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Timir Baran Roy, Alexander Timoshenko, and David Eiblmeier

i Structural Designer (CENTRUS), WSP Canada Inc., Ottawa, Canada, TimirBaran.Roy@wsp.com

ii Project Manager (CENTRUS) – Structural Monitoring, WSP Canada Inc., Ottawa, Canada, Alexander.Timoshenko@wsp.com

iii Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Technician, WSP Canada Inc., Ottawa, Canada, David.Eiblmeier@wsp.com

ABSTRACT

Structural health monitoring plays a crucial role in the success of a project. This is particularly the case in a project as complex as the Centre Block Rehabilitation (CBR) project, a major rehabilitation of one of Canada’s most prominent heritage masonry buildings. The monitoring specifications, layouts of monitors, monitoring thresholds, data processing interfaces and other relevant information gathered from projects previously undertaken across North America, Europe and Australasia were studied to inform the design of CBR’s structural health monitoring program. The CBR project includes a deep excavation under the existing CB building, a significantly large masonry structure, in close proximity to the Peace Tower (PT), a 92-metre-tall concrete/masonry structure. Ongoing construction activities such as blasting for rock removal, piling, drilling and others can lead to ground movement, and local and global displacement and rotation of the building. Monitoring of the CB building and the PT through the use of sensitive equipment, strategically placed, is critical to help understand the effects of vibration & settlement on the masonry building structures. Stringent threshold values for movement and vibration were established due to the heritage value of the buildings, which in turn required innovative monitoring equipment such as liquid level systems, robotic total stations, vibration monitors and others. This paper highlights key lessons learned from monitoring strategies of a heritage masonry structure, types of equipment used, the different challenges encountered, and the mitigation techniques adopted for local and global monitoring for the CBR project.

KEYWORDS: Structural health monitoring, data processing, masonry structure, construction activities, threshold values, innovative monitoring equipment, lessons learned.

122-Roy.pdf

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