REAL-TIME MONITORING FOR HIGHWAY 12 WIDENING PROJECT

LOCATION

Solano County, California

MARKET

Transportation

OVERVIEW

Highway 12 is currently a two-lane roadway with average daily traffic volume of about 31,000 vehicles. It winds through the steep and landslide-prone hills of the California Coast Ranges. The $139 million widening project through Jameson Canyon between Fairfield and Napa runs across a hillside that is traversed by a large water pipeline. Excavation at the bottom of the hillside could cause landslides and damage or rupture the pipeline.

SOLUTION

The project designer, Mark Thomas & Company, engaged Geodaq to install an extensive network of digital sensors and a real-time web-based monitoring system to track groundwater levels and potential shear failure movements during excavation. The system uses the proprietary sensor network technology developed by Geodaq, provides the highest resolution of ground movements available, is very cost-effective, and was completely installed in three work days.

GEODAQ DELIVERED

• In-place inclinometers along the project construction area, totaling over 3,000 MEMS accelerometer sensors with temperature readings for each sensor.
• Monitoring groundwater levels with five piezometers.
• Solar-powered monitoring station with GCM controller module and wireless internet modem in protective casing.
• Installation of sensors and monitoring systems in three work days.
• Dedicated server, secure database, and redundant backup for data storage.
• Password-protected web interface for real-time data monitoring and analysis.