Follobanen - Trackbed Monitoring

The Follobanen project started in 2015 and is a planned 22.5 km high speed railway between Oslo, Norway’s capital, and the public transport centre at Ski. The project will involve the realignment of rail tracks for the existing Østfold Line on the approach to Oslo Central Station and between the tunnel and the new Ski Station, as well as the construction of a new double railway track.

As part of the project, a completely new station is being built at Ski for both local and passing high speed trains. Oslo’s Central Station will also receive an extensive renovation.

Due to the extensive construction works, Cautus Geo was called on to monitor rail conditions on the Oslo side of the project, as well as monitoring both rails and construction activity near the new Ski station. They needed a wireless monitoring solution for both ease of installation and the ability to monitor site conditions remotely. Cautus Geo worked with Senceive’s Norwegian distributor Measure It to select Senceive’s high precision triaxial tilt sensors because of their robustness and suitability for tough conditions at sites where construction activity is taking place.

Cautus Geo installed 300 triaxial tilt meters on railway sleepers at critical areas on the Oslo side of the project to monitor rail track geometry parameters such as cant and twist. An additional 13 sensors were installed in an existing building near Ski Station for structural monitoring to ensure the building foundation was not adversely affected by the construction work. 

The mesh network formed by the wireless sensors was set up to relay data from the sensors to Senceive servers via a solar powered gateway and on to Cautus Geo’s own visualisation software ‘Cautus Web’. Any discrepancies or movements beyond the established threshold values trigger an alarm that is sent to nominated stakeholders. “We have had several alarms, but train traffic and construction work have not been disrupted. The alarms provide an opportunity to check the cause and assess potential mitigating measures. The goal is to ensure safety throughout the entire project period” says Cautus Geo CTO Lars Krangnes.

The installed tilt meters for both structural monitoring and rail track geometry monitoring have minimised the need for site visits and enabled a targeted decision making response during this lengthy project. The sensors are housed in robust enclosures with protective antenna caps, making them ideal for the harsh conditions.

“The sensors from Senceive have proved to be of very good quality. They can withstand ‘Norwegian conditions’ with periods of heavy precipitation and large temperature changes. They have a long battery life, are very robust and very accurate,” says Krangnes.

“There are demanding ground conditions in the station area where construction pits will be established near the current track and the station building. It is therefore important to have sensors we can trust and near real-time data that gives an alarm if something happens in the ground,” says CEO Atle Gerhardsen in Cautus Geo.

Senceive’s sensors allow partners like Cautus Geo to integrate a higher level of risk mitigation and safety into their monitoring projects. Senceive’s technology is helping them to protect people and assets in the world’s most complex and dangerous environments.