Geotechnical Monitoring

Most Recent Geotechnical Monitoring Projects

Instrumentation in Sarcheshmeh copper mine has been completed

Following the completion of the instruments manufacturing in the Sarcheshmeh copper mine conveyor belt truss, these tools were installed on the structure during November 2024. The set of operations included ducting, cabling, and installation of connection plates. Since this structure has a length of 155 meters, a width of 6 meters and a height of 32 meters above the ground, the installation of tools on different parts of the deck as well as on its tall columns was carried out with great difficulty and sometimes with the help of rappelwork forces. The harsh weather conditions (high dust and cold weather, as well as the acidic conditions caused by the fumes of the floatation plant) added to the difficulty of the executive work.
Currently, all strain gauges, tiltmeters and accelerometers of the structure have been installed in a predetermined area and their cables have been transferred to the data collection room. The next step of the work is to connect this data to the control room and display the data online and activate the online damage control software.

Supply of vibrating wire crack meter and loggers for Dez Dam

Dez Dam, which is one of the oldest dams in Iran. Dez Dam Production and Operation Company purchased some precision instruments to monitor the concrete structure of the dam and the rocks around it. These tools include crack meters and the corresponding reading loggers, all of which were submitted to the project in March 2024. It has been decided that by purchasing and deploying an automatic data acquisition device and using a wireless transmission system, the collected data will be transferred to the central monitoring room. The installation of the above-mentioned tools will be completed in April 2024.

Installation of Tilt Meter in Chalous Bridge Monitoring

At the end of 2023, 10 digital tilt meters with electronic sensors along with the relevant logger were supplied by Payab Company to monitor the pillars of the bridge entering the city of Chalus. The installation of the tools was carried out in April 2024. After installing the tilt meters, the instrument cables are directed to the terminal boxes and their readings are done in this place easily.

Continuation of the excavation monitoring operation of the Jahan Mall commercial complex in Mashhad

This operation, which started at the beginning of 2023, was aimed at reading the movements of the ground around the pit of the Jahan Mall Grand Complex in the city of Mashhad. In addition to the mapping method, the behavior of the pit is through 11 inclinometers that are installed around the pit and up to a depth of 24.5 meters. Every month, the readings of these holes are done with the help of the inclinometer of the Payab Zamzam Company, and a written illustrated report is presented to the employer. So far, the movement of the walls have generally been in a safe range, but in some places where the movements deviate from the usual limits, the necessary warnings have been given to the employer.

Supplementary Instrumentation in Monitoring Jajrood Water Transfer Tunnel

Following the supply of a few instruments including pressure cells and concrete strain gauges to Jajrood water transfer tunnel, to continue the investigations, a new number of these instruments were re-requested and delivered to the project.

Behavioral Monitoring of Tehran-Shomal Tunnels

Many tunnels exit in Tehran–Shomal Highway and some of those, which pass through weak grounds, have monitoring instruments. Amongst those are tunnel 11, 38 etc. Some tunnels have a short overhead, and some are at the proximity of valleys. Weathering and crushed nature of the rock mass caused movements and led to some cracks in its concrete lining. Also, several ground anchors have been used to strengthen the rock mass and prevent the movement of discontinuities. In these projects, many instruments (such as extensometers, tilt meters, load cells, crack meters etc.) have been used to monitor rock mass behavior.

Supply of Instrumentation for Bird Garden Net

The Bird Garden, which has been built on Shahid Babaei Highway, east of Tehran, has a huge metal net that is located on a large valley and has become a beautiful habitat for many birds. This metal grating is placed on a network of thick steel cables. The total weight of this grating is conveyed over a number of tall metal columns. To monitor the strain in the cables and control the deviation of the relevant columns, 4 vibrating wire strain gauges, 4 digital two-axial tilt meters and 1 data logger were produced and delivered to the project by Payab Zamzam Company. The installation and commissioning of the system will be completed soon.

Instrumentation of buildings adjacent to the Qom metro

Some buildings adjacent to the Qom metro have been damaged after excavations. The amount of damage in some buildings has been significant. One of these cases is being monitored by 10 one-dimensional crack meter and 3 two-dimensional tilt meter was installed by Payab Zamzam Company. The operation began in June and is scheduled to continue for some time to monitor the development (or unchanging) of the cracks and movements of the building.

Monitoring the concrete wall at the entrance to the Tehran-Shomal Freeway

The tall concrete wall that is located under the toll gates of the entrance to the Tehran-Shomal Freeway has a crack that attracted the attention of the client. To ensure that it does not move incrementally and progressively, some 3D electric crack meters and a digital 3-axis tilt meter were installed. The supply and installation of these tools was done by Payab Zamzam Company, and the necessary logger for reading the above tools was delivered to the client.

Supply and installation of extensometers in Faizabad lead and zinc mine, Nain

In order to record the rock movements around lead and zinc mining workshops in Feyzabad Mine, close to Nain city, some borehole extensometers were installed from the ground surface towards underground stopes. The plan is to monitor rock movement around the stopes while excavating mine and to make sure no waste rock is diluted with ore due to poor blasting. Using the information provided by these tools, it will be possible to optimize the extraction plan and the blasting pattern.

Providing Instrumentation for Monitoring of the Excavation System of Qom City

Urban pits are generally dug for high-rise buildings to create subsurface floors. In cases where excavation is carried out in the soil, it is very important to ensure the stability of the pit walls. Usually, there are other buildings in the vicinity of urban pits that should not be threatened or damaged during the implementation of the project. Using instrumentation is a reliable way to predict any risk in the shortest possible time. In this excavation project, which uses an anchor and nail reinforcement system, monitoring of the force in the reinforcement system was done by several 80-ton load cells. Also, the supply of a single-purpose data logger in this project has been the responsibility of Payab Zamzam Company.

Instrumentation for Segment 1 Tunnel of Khorramabad – Poldokhtar road

The maintenance system in most intercity tunnels includes concrete lining. A pressure cell is usually used to determine the amount of external pressure on lining. Also, convergence measurement is used to measure tunnel displacement of the walls. In this project, Payab Zamzam Company has supplied a few electric pressure cells along with a digital convergence meter and the related data logger device. Using these tools, it is possible to ensure the amount of pressure applied from the ground to the lining on a regular basis and to make sure these stresses remain within the permissible limits.

Supply of Instrumentation for Monitoring the Foundation of Se-Balutak Bridge

One of the important points in bridge construction is the foundation under the bridge pillars. Since the bridge weight and the load of transportation on it is transferred to the columns and from there to the foundation, this section is one of the sensitive points in bridge construction projects. The purpose of foundation monitoring is to investigate the stability of the foundation for one of the pillars of the Se-Balutak Great Bridge. This bridge is located near a lake and water ingress in the rock mass is the main source of worries. Any risk of foundation movement causes movement and rotation in the bridge pylon, so the probable rotation of the pylon is also monitored by installing a number of tiltmeters.

As mentioned, to measure the foundation movement and to monitor the amount of pressure and water level in the surrounding rocks and the rotation of the pylon, two-axis tilt meters, an electric piezometer, a 40-meter extensometer with 5 anchors and a suitable data logger are used. These tools are supplied to the contractor by Payab Zamzam Company.

Behavior of the Sixth Bridge of Tehran-Shomal Freeway

The sixth bridge of Tehran-Shomal Freeway is perhaps the largest bridge on this route. The bridge system is made of steel and concrete (so called composite materials), and its deck, which is a hollow box, is reinforced by external steel strands. Bridge monitoring has been done by Payab Zamzam Company in the form of supply and installing cable strain gauges, crack meters, deck tilt meters and data acquisition systems.

The purpose of the monitoring program is to determine the amount of force change in the external cables of the deck as well as the amount of rotation of the deck and movement in the cracks of the structure. The measurement of all sensors is done through an automatic data acquisition system. All bridge sensors are automatically read every 2 hours a day (24/7) and the relevant data is stored for future use and analysis. This data is then transferred by fiber optic cable to the client’s control room.

Behavior of Reinforced Soil Wall of Tehran-Shomal Freeway

At kilometer 14700 of the Tehran-Shomal Freeway, a very high wall has been built in front of Sangan village. The wall consists of unbonded stone blocks and is built in a stepped manner. Since there are many residential areas and gardens under this wall, the stability and probable movements of this wall have been monitored by several tilt meters. The tilt meters have two sensors to record rotation in two orthogonal directions with an accuracy of one thousandth of a degree. The instrument is equipped with a built-in thermometer to record and correct the effect of temperature. Due to the difficulty of accessing the installation site, the installation operation was very sensitive and difficult, and a special mobile platform was designed and built by Payab Zamzam Company to do the work. Currently, all devices are being read, and a high reliability factor has been recorded for the wall.

Behavior of Sheet Walls of Tehran-Shomal Freeway

In many parts of the Tehran-Shomal Freeway, the side of the road has been protected by the installation of high concrete walls (known as the sheet pile wall). These walls consist of several concrete columns and intermittent concrete sheets, which collectively provide a suitable cover for roadside protection. To monitor the performance of these walls, a few tilt meters are being installed in parts of the installation route and its readings are being carried out by appropriate loggers. The tilt meters have two sensors to record rotation in two directions and with an accuracy of one thousandth of a degree. The instrument is equipped with a built-in thermometer to record and correct the effect of temperature.

Behavior of Sungun Copper Mine

The behavior of one of the high slopes overlooking Sungun copper mine condensation plant (one of the largest active copper mines in the country) has been done by Payab Zamzam Company. This slope, which is 80 m height, has been built in several steps. The materials of the site are made up of small and highly weathered and fractured stones. The slope reinforcement system is designed to use monobars with a diameter of 40 mm in the form of nails. The installation of 20 load cells on the selected monobars is part of the wall monitoring. Also, several deviation meters are installed in different areas of the slope and its surroundings in parallel with slope monitoring. All instruments are connected to the terminal boxes in the middle staircase by cabling and the reading operations are carried out centrally but manually with a portable logger. It is planned that in the next step, the reading system be automatic and non-manual in order to increase the accuracy of reading and eliminate human errors. Also, due to the cold weather and snowfall in this area, it is not easy to access the site for manual reading in some seasons of the year, so having an automatic data collection system can be a great help to the project.

Behavior of the pit at Mirdamad area, Tehran

Payab Zamzam Company carried out behavior monitoring in Mirdamad region by supplying tilt meters.
Ensuring the stability of the side walls of the surrounding streets is one of the goals of this monitoring program. In this project, several bi-axial tilt meters were installed on the building adjacent to the pit and its cable was guided to a suitable place for facilitating simple reading. The instrument also has a built-in temperature sensor, therefore simultaneous thermal corrections are applied to the data. Also, for added protection, the tools are housed in a suitable protective box. The data collected indicates the proper stability of the structure and no destructive movements have been reported so far.

Behavior of crude oil storage tanks in Jask port

Oil storage tanks for crude oil-producing countries are one of the vital facilities to maintain market presence and continuously supply oil to customers. Iran has also taken the lead in this regard by building many storage reservoirs and has taken important steps in this direction by implementing crude oil storage projects in the southern edge of the country. One of these projects is the construction of crude oil storage tanks with a capacity of 10 million barrels in Jask (Makran).

In this project, the construction of a few crude oil storage tanks with a diameter of 80 meters is underway. Due to the loose ground at the reservoir construction site, the issue of strengthening the ground and increasing the bearing capacity of the land under the mentioned tanks has been included in the plan of the contractor company (Kayson). In this project, the load-bearing capacity of the land is increased by using concrete columns by the rigid Inclusion method. The new method used in the construction of these columns includes the implementation of unreinforced columns that are poured in situ after excavation by mortar consisting of local sand, cement, micro silica and water. Payab Zamzam Company has carried out the behavior of the columns under the tanks by installing a few embedded strain gauges and load cells under the reservoirs.