FIBER OPTICS MONITORING SOLUTION FOR CANAL DYKES

A fibre optics textile composite monitoring solution has been developed to detect and localize both leaks and early signs of failure (erosion, blocking, breaches, sliding, and settlements) of hydraulic works, and specially wet dikes of canals and harbours. This unique solution can detect at the same time changes in temperature and strain. It has been installed in several experimental and real sites. The performance of the GeoDetect ® solution results in the combination of the high sensitiveness of the textile composite sensor connected to the relevant instrumentation to assess the soil properties changes, and the powerful mathematical model to analyse the measured data. Variations as small as 0.02% in soil strain and leaks as low as 0.1 l/min/m have been measured to detect and localise the early signs of failure.