Real-time monitoring of damaged quayside in Hamburg

Location: Hamburg, Germany
Start:  December 2023 till June 2024
Type: Quayside stability
Companies Involved:

• Fugro

• Hywax GmbH

• TotaLite

Project Overview

Hywax GmbH operates a plant in the harbor of Hamburg, but is faced with a challenge with one of their quay structures. A major crack in the structure shows potential risk of the quay structure sliding into the water. As a vital component of the company’s operations, ensuring the quay’s stability was critical to avoid costly disruptions. To avoid Hywax has reinforced the quay with rubble stones in front of the quayside and has applied monitoring to provide near real-time alerts and get a better understanding of the situation.

The challenge

The quay at Hywax was at risk of deformation, and the growing crack needed close monitoring. Fugro has applied various conventional instruments to acquire insights in the condition of the quay. Tilt meters were used to understand the inclination of the quay and its movements into the water while the displacement relative to fixed points was validated by a fortnightly tachymeter survey. The crack was monitored using a crack meter (LVDT) and a laser-distance meter. 

Our solutionWe installed a TotaLite monitoring the quay stability looking along the quay so it could watch the movements into the water and any settlement. Fixed control points were used as reference to provide accurate results. Next to the quay, also the adjacent building was monitored to understand relation between the quay and other structures..As an additional validation campaign also a TotaLite was installed on a building monitoring continuous changes in the width of a growing crack in the quay structure and comparing against the conventional crack sensors.

The results

1. Movements induced by the tide: the first interesting insight was that the quay deformed in horizontal direction due to the tide by several millimeters. This was confirmed by the tilt meter readings but could now be quantified in a displacement magnitude.

2. Quay Stability: On December 18, 2023, TotaLite detected a significant movement of several centimeters after a flooding event. A similar trend was observed by the tilt meters and manual surveys. The survey measurements can be compared one-on-one; but show infrequent measurements not able to pinpoint the exact time of the events and distinguish movements induced by the tide. 

3. Crack Monitoring: TotaLite’s crack sensor closely matched the accuracy of the laser-distance meter, though it didn’t reach the precision of the LVDT. A LVDT is a very precise solution; but can be invasive and expensive when targeting multiple cracks.

The impact

The TotaLite system provided accurate, real-time monitoring of the quay and crack at Hywax facilities at Hamburg, offering advantages over traditional methods by delivering continuous data and immediate alerts. It merges the merits of continuous insights of tiltmeters and the real 2D displacement insights of manual total station measurements.

Overall, TotaLite’s image-based sensing system helped Hywax manage risks efficiently and cost-effectively, ensuring the long-term stability of their critical infrastructure