Geotechnical instrumentation is a vital component to the success of any investigation and construction project. Instrumentation specialists work with geotechnical, materials, and environmental engineers to measure and monitor a variety of soil and groundwater conditions. This includes soil deformation on slopes, anchor loads, groundwater levels, water quality, temperatures, and strain in structures. The information helps engineers understand site conditions accurately to mitigate risks on, above, or below the ground during the design, construction, and post-construction phases.
A variety of instruments and data collection systems are available to meet the specific needs of a site, whether it be in a busy urban environment or off-grid at a remote site. Automated data collection systems can also be equipped with telemetry to allow remote access to the data, thereby reducing the number of site visits. This presentation provides information about some of these instruments and field applications.
Mr. Mills completed his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and an M.Eng. degree in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Alberta. He is based in Edmonton, Alberta and works at Thurber Engineering Ltd. (Thurber). He has served Thurber in various roles since joining the firm in 1998. He is currently a Senior Associate of the company and specializes in geotechnical instrumentation assignments across western Canada.
Rob has experience in geotechnical investigations and the design, construction, and testing of deep foundations for commercial and infrastructure developments in Alberta and BC. He is also actively involved in planning the installation of geotechnical instrumentation for various monitoring applications, including the installation of surface data logger equipment with remote access capabilities.
Hayley Croteau, P.Eng., is the Western Canada Regional Director at GEOKON. She is based in Metro Vancouver, and is a Professional Engineer (registered in BC) with a B.A.Sc. in Geological Engineering from the University of British Columbia. She worked for AMEC Infrastructure and Environment in Northern BC as a geotechnical engineer for five years after graduation, gaining a wide variety of experience across different applications, industries and geographies. She has spent the past thirteen years working for geotechnical instrumentation manufacturers, helping engineers define and optimize their instrumentation and monitoring systems, leveraging her field and application experience from her consulting role. She has been involved in instrumentation programs across the globe in industries ranging from infrastructure to mining, oil and gas, renewable energy and hydroelectric dams and enjoys working to define the best solution for each project’s needs.