During the process of excavation for substructures of buildings, precise and constant measurements of retaining wall displacement is crucial for construction to be complete and safe. Currently an inclinometer is used to measure displacement around the perimeter of an excavation site. The existing inclinometer system requires an instrument to be placed inside pre-bored holes for each measurement with an typical interval of two weeks. This makes it difficult to obtain continuous displacement data, especially during a critical time such as rainy season in summer. Also, the existing inclinometer is placed at certain distance away from the retaining wall system itself. Thus, exact measurement of retaining wall movement is compromised because of the distance between the retaining wall and the inclinometer. This paper presents the development of wireless inclinometer system for the displacement measurement of retaining walls by being attached directly to the retaining wall. The result of the application of the developed systems are provided with advanced ubiquitous sensor network (USN) system features. The USN technique incorporated into the system enables users to monitor movement data from wherever possible and convenient such as construction manager's office on site or any other places connected through internet. The research work presented in this paper will provide a basis to save construction time and cost by preventing safe-related unexpected delay of construction due to the failure or collapse of retaining walls.
This study was partially supported by IRCT (Innovative and Rapid Construction Technologies Joint Venture) research project funded by MLTM (Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs) through KICTEP (Korean Institute of Construction & Transportation Technology Evaluation and Planning).