Heading up our in-house monitoring team, James Taylor spends a few minutes discussing safety, scalability and the strength of Severn Partnership.
What are the benefits of remote wireless technology compared to traditional monitoring methods?
I’d say the main benefits of a wireless, lean, remote monitoring approach would be cost firstly, with less visits and less manual monitoring. You’ve got huge savings there. And safety, with less visits again, less boots on ballast and less boots on the road, or wherever you might be monitoring. And greener as well, with far fewer car journeys.
As my project requirements evolve, can additional monitoring points be included?
A remote wireless monitoring regime is very scalable depending on the size of the site, whether at the beginning of the project or at the end, and the evolution of the site. As all of these factors change, more sensors can be added, more ATS can be added or taken away, so there’s no fixed price or cost. It’s all very scalable.
What is the process for sensor installation and set-up? Are there dedicated support teams available to assist throughout the project?
Sensor and ATS installation is carried out by monitoring technicians and surveyors, and the data is processed by a Monitoring Data Manager during the set-up and the daily QA. Further checks are also carried out by the monitoring Manager every day. There is always a Manager on-call for triggers and queries from our clients. If something looks wrong and our clients are unsure if there has been a trigger, we will always be there at the end of the phone to confirm whether there has or not.
In the event of a technical issue, what is the process for troubleshooting and resolving problems to minimise downtime and disruptions?
If there’s a technical issue or trigger, daily QA checks are carried out to try and prevent these, to quickly identify any issues and minimise any downtime. But the smart mesh technology will often work around issues. If sensors are taken away without pre-warning or site evolution blocks how they are communicating, the smart technology will work around that obstacle and then continue to report to the cloud.
Are there customisation options available to tailor the monitoring parameters based on project needs?
Yes, every solution is bespoke to the individual site and what requires to be monitored. How big, how little, it’s all tailored to the client’s needs.
How does the wireless monitoring service address and confirm if triggers are real, which could affect my project outcome?
If we get triggers and they don’t fit into a tangible, expected pattern, our monitoring data managers are experienced with how triggers usually work, so can spot a knocked trigger or a jump in the data that probably isn’t real. So then, for a one-off, we can pretty much discount that. But if there is a pattern, they will identify this and send a site team to identify on-site, and carry out a survey if needed to prove that something has moved, or not. If there’s artificial movement, a survey will clarify that.
Can the monitoring system operate efficiently in challenging environments such as areas with limited connectivity or adverse weather conditions?
Yes, this is where remote wireless technology excels and comes into its own, above its rivals. Mesh technology can daisy chain around various obstacles that are placed in its way through site evolution. They can be put in voids, or they can be enclosed and not be visible by line of sight. No other survey method could manage that. You could stick one on structural steel and then build around it, and that will sit there reporting for years on end.
What sets Severn Partnership apart, when it comes to their Automated Monitoring services?
I think the main strength of Severn Partnership, the backbone is our 40 years of rail experience. So we have the track team, the planners; we can get on track as quickly as anyone else, survey, check the nodes are in place, check any ATS are working and powered up. And it’s that rate of experience that really sets us apart, rail monitoring is at the forefront of our business.
So I mentioned rail, that’s our backbone, but we also do structural monitoring. We’ve got tunnels and bridges, in fact, we’ve got tunnel monitoring and deformation monitoring at the moment using distance meters. And bridges, we’ve got a big manual monitoring campaign on bridges at the moment up north. We have an ATS, an MS60 scanning a cliff face for general movement back and forth with a scan.
And environmental monitoring, noise, dust and vibration. We’ve got a big project in central London, a building site for vibration monitoring. And, a big road project for environmental monitoring down south.
And then embankment cutting monitoring, which is usually stakes in the ground with tilt metres on, usually in the rail environment, monitoring ground movement due to construction work nearby.
Head over to our Automated Monitoring service page for more information or contact James directly.