Integration of non-structural works and measures: the new monitoring system for the Panaro River detention basin

CAE has won the tender for the supplying, installation and activation of a system that monitors interstitial pressures in the Panaro River detention basin in Modena, with a total utility volume of 25,000,000 m3. Winning this tender, for which 5 different proposals have been evaluated by the tender administration, is an important opportunity to strengthen our relationship with AIPO.

The project aims at controlling the interstitial pressures inside the river banks and the foundation soils of the work site, both during the implementation of the experimental basins aimed at works testing, and during its operating phase, in order to constantly evaluate the correct capacity of the detention basin over time. Moreover, the surveys carried out for the installation of piezometers will give us a better picture of the lithological and stratigraphic information available relating to foundation soils and the soils that form the basin banks.

The monitored area covers approximately 16 Km2 and the punctual piezometric monitoring points are scattered throughout the area of interest. It is a typical situation where a large range of telecommunication products are utilised by CAE. The proposed system is actually equipped with WSN short-range communication modules (Wireless Sensor Network) based on wireless technology, as well as ACTI-Linkmedium-range communication modules based on standard SRD technology (Short Range Devices). The architecture of the field sensor network, remote-controlled through ACTI-Link nodes, allows us to meet the critical issues connected to spatiality and to the specialized geotechnical nature of the monitoring. The system supplied will easily adapt to extended geographical areas, characterized by a very broad variety in terms of measurement type and evolution dynamics of measured phenomena which vary from node to node.

The system is composed of 2 monitoring subsystems: one for the Southern zone which uses the ACTI-Linkcommunication modules, and one for the Northern zone which uses the W-Point communication modules. Both subsystems are composed by a Master station and a series of piezometers (up to 57), installed at different drilling sites set at a depth from 5 to 40 meters.

The geotechnical monitoring system designed by CAE sends the data collected during the measurement campaigns to the main control center of AIPO in Parma and to the control center in Modena, as well as to the ARPA regional monitoring network in Emilia Romagna, which belongs to the trustee network of the Po Basin.

The professionalism and high level skill set of our expert staff coupled with the technology we utilize led CAE to win this tender, creating an important opportunity for us to demonstrate our company’s ability to meet our customers' varying needs and to face new challenges with success.