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Major structures, measured in service.

Long-span bridges, towers, stadium roofs and tall buildings move with wind, traffic, crowds and temperature every day. Accelerometers, strain sensors, GNSS and weather stations report to one record that shows engineers how a structure behaves between inspections and after every storm or event.

Industry

Infrastructure

Measurements

5

Sources cited

4

1. Infrastructure · Structural health of major structures

   Between inspections

   A long-span bridge, a tower or a stadium roof is inspected on a cycle and lives through every storm, rush hour and crowd in between. Damage that starts between inspections, or behaviour that changes after an event, is invisible without measurement. Continuous evidence lets engineers see how the structure is really behaving.

2. What is measured

   Vibration, strain, movement and wind

   Accelerometers at key points record vibration and natural frequencies. Strain gauges on critical members follow load and fatigue, displacement sensors watch bearings and joints, GNSS follows towers and mid-span, and anemometers and temperature sensors record the conditions the structure answers to.

   Instruments

   Accelerometers · Strain gauges · Displacement sensors · GNSS · Anemometers and temperature

3. The base node

   Normal behaviour, learned

   The structure’s node turns raw signals into natural frequencies, strain cycles and displacements, and compares them with the structure’s normal behaviour for the temperature and load at that moment. Changes beyond normal, and storms or earthquakes, raise alerts, and every value is signed.

4. Radio and links

   On the structure’s own fibre

   Major structures carry their own fibre for operations, and monitoring rides it with the bandwidth vibration needs. Points far along a span or high on a tower reach the network over a private radio, and the public cellular network is the second path to the owner.

   Links

   Fibre · Private LTE · Public cellular

5. How it works

   From a storm to an engineer’s report

   A storm passes over a long-span bridge. Accelerometers and GNSS record its response, the node compares frequencies and displacements with normal behaviour, and finds them back to normal once the wind drops. The owner’s engineer receives the post-event report within hours, with the evidence attached.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the structure and the questions

   The scope reads the structure’s design, inspection history, known concerns and the questions the owner needs answered. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the instrument plan with the reasons for each point, the network and data design, the analysis to be delivered and a price per structure and per year.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Climb and inspect with the engineer

   Crews survey with the owner’s structural engineer: access to decks, towers, roofs and floors, critical members for strain, points for accelerometers, sites for GNSS and anemometers at height, and routes for cables. They record the structure’s own network and power at each point.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Owner, operations and safety

   Access follows the structure’s operating rules: lane closures, roof access permits, rope access plans. The owner’s engineer approves every fixing to the structure, and the operator agrees when work can happen. Every approval is kept with the structure’s record. Crews follow the structure’s safety rules.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build for the structure

   Accelerometers, strain and displacement sensors, GNSS receivers, weather stations, the industrial gateway and the node are built, tested together and enrolled with their identities. Each point is configured with its location and sensitivity, and labelled for maintenance. Configurations are checked on the bench first.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install in planned closures

    Crews install in planned closures or by rope access: strain gauges on members, accelerometers at key points, displacement sensors at bearings and joints, GNSS and anemometers at height. Cables are routed on the structure’s trays, and every point is photographed and located.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Learn the structure’s normal

    Each device proves its identity. Sensors are checked in place, the first weeks of data are analysed to find the structure’s natural frequencies and normal behaviour with temperature and load, and alerts are set and tested with the owner’s engineer.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Engineering decisions on evidence

    Engineers see how the structure behaves under wind, traffic, crowds and temperature, with changes in its normal behaviour flagged. After storms and events they receive a report within hours, and inspections and assessments are planned with the record in hand.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Keep the record continuous

    Points are checked on schedule and at each inspection, sensors replaced when they drift, and the normal behaviour model updated after repairs or changes of use. Every change is recorded, so the long series that structural health depends on stays continuous.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For engineers, owners and operators

    Structural engineers receive behaviour against normal; owners and engineers receive post-event reports; assessment engineers receive fatigue and strain cycle records; operators receive comfort and serviceability indicators. Each product carries the sensors, their calibration and the normal model behind it. Reports are dated and versioned.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Evidence for assessment

    Every reading, analysis, alert and report is signed and kept. Monitoring follows the international standard for condition monitoring of structures, assessment uses the basis for existing structures, and records join the structure’s information model, so engineers and insurers can rely on them for decades.

    Drawn against

    ISO 16587 · ISO 4866 · ISO 13822 · ISO 19650

16. What you get

    Structural and ground-movement monitoring

    GNSS, InSAR, tilt, strain and fibre sensing on bridges, dams, slopes, tailings and pipelines, with alert thresholds set by the owner. Delivered as managed service and data licence, for infrastructure, mining and pipeline operators, transport agencies. Scale: Asset portfolios. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan structural health of major structures with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for structural health of major structures. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextOwners of major structures inspect them on a cycle and assess them when loads, use or condition change. Structural health monitoring adds continuous evidence: how the structure vibrates, strains and moves under real wind, traffic and crowds, and whether that changes. Assessment of existing structures has its own international basis.

Hazards

• Fatigue and damage developing between inspections
• Excessive vibration under wind or crowds
• Movement of bearings and joints
• Storm and earthquake damage that must be assessed fast
• Monitoring data no one can interpret

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A measurement point: accelerometers, strain and displacement sensors on an industrial gateway with an edge node.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A structure: every point on its fibre and network, GNSS and weather at height, with a secure link to the owner.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   Every monitored structure of an owner run as one fleet, with one record.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Owners, engineers and researchers exchange structural data through open standards.

   The open protocol →

• 01Vibration and condition monitor
• 02GNSS geodetic station
• 03Compact weather station
• 04OT gateway (OPC UA, Modbus)
• 05Edge node (Wedge)
• 06Fibre terminal

Radio and links

Fibre

Major structures carry their own fibre for operations; monitoring rides it with the bandwidth that vibration needs.

Radio and links

Private LTE

Points far along a span or high on a tower reach the network without new cables.

Radio and links

Public cellular

A second path to the owner when the structure’s own network is down.

Edge computeThe structure’s node computes natural frequencies, strain cycles and displacements from the raw signals, compares them with the structure’s normal behaviour for the temperature and load, and raises alerts after storms, earthquakes and unusual events.

PowerPoints run on the structure’s power with batteries; remote points on solar where no supply reaches.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope the structure and the questions

   The scope reads the structure’s design, inspection history, known concerns and the questions the owner needs answered. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the instrument plan with the reasons for each point, the network and data design, the analysis to be delivered and a price per structure and per year. 4

2. 02 Survey

   Climb and inspect with the engineer

   Crews survey with the owner’s structural engineer: access to decks, towers, roofs and floors, critical members for strain, points for accelerometers, sites for GNSS and anemometers at height, and routes for cables. They record the structure’s own network and power at each point.

3. 03 Permits

   Owner, operations and safety

   Access follows the structure’s operating rules: lane closures, roof access permits, rope access plans. The owner’s engineer approves every fixing to the structure, and the operator agrees when work can happen. Every approval is kept with the structure’s record. Crews follow the structure’s safety rules.

4. 04 Build

   Build for the structure

   Accelerometers, strain and displacement sensors, GNSS receivers, weather stations, the industrial gateway and the node are built, tested together and enrolled with their identities. Each point is configured with its location and sensitivity, and labelled for maintenance. Configurations are checked on the bench first.

5. 05 Install

   Install in planned closures

   Crews install in planned closures or by rope access: strain gauges on members, accelerometers at key points, displacement sensors at bearings and joints, GNSS and anemometers at height. Cables are routed on the structure’s trays, and every point is photographed and located.

6. 06 Commission

   Learn the structure’s normal

   Each device proves its identity. Sensors are checked in place, the first weeks of data are analysed to find the structure’s natural frequencies and normal behaviour with temperature and load, and alerts are set and tested with the owner’s engineer. 1

7. 07 Operate

   Engineering decisions on evidence

   Engineers see how the structure behaves under wind, traffic, crowds and temperature, with changes in its normal behaviour flagged. After storms and events they receive a report within hours, and inspections and assessments are planned with the record in hand. 4

8. 08 Maintain

   Keep the record continuous

   Points are checked on schedule and at each inspection, sensors replaced when they drift, and the normal behaviour model updated after repairs or changes of use. Every change is recorded, so the long series that structural health depends on stays continuous.

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Behaviour against normalStructural engineers
• Post-event reportsOwners and engineers
• Fatigue and strain cycle recordsAssessment engineers
• Comfort and serviceability indicatorsOperators

Integration

• Asset managementIndicators and reports join the structure’s record in the asset management system.
• Inspection planningFindings are linked to inspection items and members.
• Digital modelPoints and data are linked to the structure’s information model under ISO 19650 practice.

Exchanged through ISO 16587, ISO 13822, OPC UA.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Does monitoring replace inspection?

No. It adds continuous evidence between inspections and helps plan them.

How do you tell damage from temperature?

The node learns normal behaviour with temperature and load, and flags changes beyond it.

How fast after a storm?

A report reaches the owner within hours of the event.

Can the data be used for assessment?

Yes, as measured evidence under the assessment of existing structures.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1ISO 16587: Mechanical vibration and shock, performance parameters for condition monitoring of structuresInternational Organization for Standardization
2. 2ISO 4866: Mechanical vibration and shock, vibration of fixed structures, guidelines for measurementInternational Organization for Standardization
3. 3Guide to Instruments and Methods of Observation (WMO-No. 8)World Meteorological Organization
4. 4ISO 13822: Bases for design of structures, assessment of existing structuresInternational Organization for Standardization

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Infrastructure: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

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