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Your ticket to safer, more reliable railway monitoring and
asset maintenance

Safer, more reliable monitoring

Wireless monitoring solutions for railway track, earthworks and structures

Whether you are involved in railway construction or operation, you will need to measure and assess the attributes and performance of railway assets at some point in their lifecycle.

IF YOU CAN MEASURE IT, YOU CAN MANAGE IT

  1. Quick and Easy

    Wireless sensors such as tiltmeters used in rail monitoring applications are installed in minutes and typically last for 10 to 15 years. Most installations are done by non-specialists.

  2. Robust

    Use solutions that are tested, approved and proven at remote sites with no fixed (mains) power supply and that are sufficiently robust to stand up to most weather conditions, rail traffic and maintenance operations.

  3. Improve safety, save money

    Remote monitoring means fewer site visits, reducing risk and cost.

  4. Early warning – for safer railways

    Don’t wait for a train driver or member of the public to report debris on the track - detect ground or structural movement as it happens.

  5. Predict and prevent

    Identify long-term trends to keep infrastructure in use for longer, and target precious maintenance resources where they are most needed.

Five reasons to choose wireless remote rail monitoring

Track
monitoring

Measure changes in track geometry including rail cant, twist, superelevation and settlement

Slope
monitoring

Get early warning of landslides, rockfall or subsidence to prevent disruption and danger

Bridge
monitoring

Prevent failure through structural health monitoring

Railway tunnel
monitoring

Understand ground and structural behaviour during construction and operation

Construction
monitoring

Manage your liabilities to third parties using sensors that are discreet and non-disruptive

How it works

Explore our interactive railway monitoring model

 
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Click the products to learn more.

Vibrating Wire Sensor Node with Piezometer

The Vibrating Wire Sensor Node supports a variety of interface sensors such as crack, strain gauges and extensometers. Here it is connected to a piezometer and prevents the need for manual logging by transmitting data on pore water pressure and groundwater level variations.

InfraGuardTM

Wireless tilt sensors are mounted on stakes. The sensors detect rotational movements and send scheduled data reports. Sudden movement events are also detected as they happen, regardless of the pre-set sampling schedule.

When thresholds are breached, sampling is accelerated, and nearby nodes are triggered to accelerate reporting.

When a camera is integrated into the system, photographs are taken on a scheduled basis and when triggered by sudden movement.

NanoMacro Triaxial Tilt Sensor Nodes

Wireless tilt sensors installed on trackbed can measure rail track heave/differential settlement, cant and twist. With no external antenna and a durable shell, the Nano is ideal for the most challenging environments.

Millivolt Sensor Node

The Millivolt Sensor Node enables a variety of structural and geotechnical sensors to be integrated into a wireless monitoring system. Strain gauges on trackbed are just one example. A node cap helps protect the antenna from passing track workers.

PT100 RTD Sensor Node

The PT100 RTD Sensor Node enables precise temperature monitoring and critical rail temperature alerting. Can be supplied with an integrated High-G triaxial tilt sensor for combined tilt and temperature monitoring.

FlatMesh 4G Gateway

The FlatMesh 4G Gateway provides all the functionality required to operate a wireless sensor network in a remote location. With a solar panel, no fixed power supply is required. Data is transmitted from the sensors to the Gateway and onwards to a secure cloud-based server and data management platform.

4G Camera

The FlatMesh 4G Camera is a high resolution camera that is able to take great quality black and white photos of your site day or night. The camera can be set to take photos at regular intervals, on demand or most interestingly, when triggered by movements detected in nearby sensors.

FlexiMeasure

FlexiMeasure is a lightweight Inclinometer that can be installed in any orientation; segments can be connected to form a chain of flexibly coupled triaxial sensors. Here it can be seen measuring/monitoring changes in the profile of the tunnel wall.

Optical Displacement Sensor Node (ODS)

The ODS combines a tilt meter and a laser displacement sensor. Together they provide information about the stability of the structure the sensor is fixed to and relative movement of a target structure.

Here it is measuring convergence of the tunnel intrados.

Crack Sensor Node

The Crack Sensor Node is used to monitor structural movement including crack movement, expansion joint movement and pile separation. Here it is monitoring the movement of a crack on the tunnel headwall.

Digital Interface Node

The Digital Interface Node is a wireless digital data logger that enables automated sampling. It is compatible with many types of sensor that carry a digital output. Interact and manage your data online and change reporting times and thresholds remotely.

The Digital Interface Node is compatible with InfraGuardTM. Choose this responsive reporting option when you need dynamic reporting. This means your sensors can be self-managing tools that react to changing site conditions. Features include accelerated sampling, triggered site photos and escalated alerting, with near real-time notifications.

Key Rail Monitoring Applications

Track Monitoring
Earthworks & Embankments
Tunnels, Bridges and Other Structures

Compare wireless with other options

Method Cost-Effectiveness Safety Benefit* Frquency of Measurement Data Management Reliability and ease of use
Visual Inspection/Survey  ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓  ✓✓
Train based survey e.g. RILA, New measurement train  ✓✓  ✓✓✓✓✓  ✓  ✓✓✓✓  ✓✓
Trolley-based surveys using 3D scanners or LIDAR  ✓✓✓  ✓  ✓  ✓✓✓✓  ✓✓
Fixed survey, e.g. AMTS, automatic total station  ✓✓✓✓  ✓✓✓✓  ✓✓✓  ✓✓✓  ✓✓
Aerial survey, e.g. drone with lidar & imaging  ✓✓✓✓  ✓✓✓✓  ✓✓  ✓✓  ✓✓✓
Wireless remote condition monitoring  ✓✓✓✓✓  ✓✓✓✓✓  ✓✓✓✓✓  ✓✓✓✓  ✓✓✓✓

The intention is to summarise the relative merit of different approaches to measure changes in asset condition for a nominal one kilometre of railway over a one year period.

* Safety benefit refers to the data acquisition process

** Data quality – precision, accuracy, repeatability, range of information collected

Different approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, geodetic and optical survey methods, which involve automated total stations and rail clip prisms, offer precise data from specific points. However they rely on electrical power supply, have cables that are easily damaged and require expensive instruments that are vulnerable to theft.

Your challenges will change with each rail project. To provide a comprehensive picture of conditions above and below ground level, Senceive’s intelligent monitoring can be combined with optical survey methods including total stations (AMTS), scanners and lidar or Amberg rail trolleys to provide assurance and redundancy for the most critical locations.

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Preparing for Summer - Monitoring temperature related track defects

The Superior Reliability of Wireless Condition Monitoring in Extreme Cold Weather

Independent testing advances Senceive remote monitoring for track geometry

  • UPRR Track Monitoring during Chicago O’Hare Airport Runway 9R-27L Expansion Project
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    How Senceive’s technology was used to monitor construction of utility conduit bored under UPRR tracks.

  • Minneapolis Light Rail Transit System
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    How Terracon successfully deployed wireless rail track monitoring on freight track adjacent to cut-and-cover construction to improve consistency of data capture and information quality.

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    How large-scale deployment of InfraGuard™ intelligent wireless monitoring provides early warning of slope failures

    Read our brochure for more about remote monitoring for rail

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    Track record

    Senceive remote rail monitoring solutions are approved and trusted by internationally respected rail organisations who rely on tens of thousands of sensors installed on track, structures and earthworks.

    Get in touch with an expert

    With expert partners and distributors across the globe, we’ll put you in touch with the right person to help.