Contractors working on an expansion project at London City Airport are using Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to monitor the strength of the concrete.
BAM Nuttall is constructing a 75,000 square metre concrete deck over the King George V Dock on the River Thames as part of the airport’s £480m development programme which includes a new taxiway, aircraft stands and terminal buildings.
In partnership with sensor specialist Converge, the company is embedding wireless sensors into sections of newly poured concrete, New Civil Engineer reports.
These sensors send temperature data to the cloud, allowing engineers to continuously monitor the strength of the concrete as it cures. Converge has also develop algorithms that can give accurate predictions of when the concrete will reach its required strength.
As a result, BAM Nuttall can move on to the next stage of the job more quickly than conventional testing would allow.
“The ability to accurately predict when the concrete will have cured and the greater certainty in the construction process that this is providing has meant we can deliver key stages of the wider programme more quickly and efficiently, with an increased level of predictably,” said London City Airport construction director David Aimable-Lina.
“Engineers are able to start anticipating concrete behaviour on site and not just reacting to it,” Converge co-founder Raphael Scheps told Engineering News-Record.
What’s more, the tool is continuing to learn. “The more data we get, the more accurate our platform becomes,” Scheps added.
BAM Nuttall is looking to deploy the intelligent concrete technology on future projects, including work to protect the rail line at Dawlish in Devon for Network Rail.
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Tags: Internet of Things, IoT
