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Research Themes

• Mapping and Assessing the Underworld
• Smart Pipes (and other buried infrastructure monitoring)
• Trenchless Technology
• Ground Movements Associated with Underground Construction
• Buried Infrastructure

Research Activity

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The Mapping the Underworld (MTU) initiative was first initiated in 1996 when the term ‘Body Scanner in the Street’ was coined. This was followed with an EPSRC ideas factory in 2004 and the feasibility project started in 2005 investigating the abilities and limitations of a range of locating technologies to locate all buried utilities in all ground conditions, look at alternative technologies as well as investigate the mapping and data fusion of utility records. The feasibility study showed that a number of technologies have the potential to locate buried assets when used in combination and also combined with some information on the soil to optimise any survey strategies. This lead to the MTU Phase 2 Location project (2009-2012) with the focus of this project on the development of a multi-sensor device to locate all buried utilities in all ground conditions using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), low frequency electromagnetics, vibro-acoustics and leakage current fields.

This led to a further project called Assessing the Underworld (2013-2018), where the objective has been not only to locate buried infrastructure, but also to assess its condition using geophysical methods. Due to the importance of the ground in supporting the surface infrastructure (e.g. roads) and the buried infrastructure (e.g. pipes), at Birmingham we have focused on assessing changes in the ground using geophysical methods.

The MTU initiative is a 25 year vision with both condition assessment using a multi-sensor device and sustainable use of the underground infrastructure being addressed in the future.

Smart Pipes (and other buried infrastructure monitoring)

The interest in monitoring and mapping of underground infrastructure led to a number of projects investigating ways to make infrastructure ‘smarter’ using sensors, or at least to collect more data from buried infrastructure to allow better management. Such systems are called underground wireless sensor systems. One such sensor system for leak detection in pressurised water pipes developed at Birmingham is currently being taken forward as an industry led Innovate UK project.

Trenchless Technology, Ground Movements Associated with Underground Construction and Buried Infrastructure

Research in these areas has been a continuous theme of my research since my PhD research in this area. Projects have included:

• Investigating microtunnelling technology for boulder clays
• Remote positional control of steerable moles
• Ground movements associated with pipe splitting techniques
• Effects on tunnelling ground movements on existing tunnels
• Investigating horizontal directional drilling and impact moling
• Effect of tunnel-induced ground movements on existing tunnel linings
• Network in trenchless technology
• OFSTUNN: Optical Fibre Sensors for Tunnel monitoring
• Feasibility study on pipe failures in wet clay
• Tunnel installations and operating systems for buried high voltage cables
• Ground movements associated with twin tunnel constructions in clay
• Effect of soil conditions on leakage from cast iron water mains
• Resilience through innovation: critical local transport and utility infrastructure