Long-term monitoring of sheet piling

Geosonda is mainly known in the infrastructure sector as a specialist in soil mechanical research: probing, drilling and analyzing the samples in its own laboratory. But did you know that the company is also strong in monitoring groundwater levels, pocket beacons, objects, sheet piling and many other things? Construction combination Mekante Diek, consisting of Ploegam, Dura Vermeer and Van Oord, certainly does, because Geosonda is providing long-term monitoring of a sheet pile wall section on the Tiel - Waardenburg dike reinforcement project.

Probing is our core business, begins Aad van der Burg, director of Geosonda. "With our extensive machinery, we have a suitable solution for every probing issue. Because we have been operating under the ABO Group umbrella for seven years, our range of services has become much broader. For example, our sister company Sialtech specializes in mechanical soil drilling with pulse drilling units and sonic drilling rigs, and if requested, we also provide all kinds of soil research, from archaeological and environmental to geophysical (seismic) soil research with which we can also detect cables and pipes in the subsurface."

Specific dam wall route

Geosonda has been doing monitoring work for many years, but until recently did not publicize it too much. "Among other things, we monitor groundwater levels in monitoring wells, groundwater pressures (pore pressure gauges), pocket beacons, buildings and slopes (inclinometers) of, for example, a steel sheet pile wall or construction pit," Aad clarifies. "On the dike reinforcement between Tiel and Waardenburg, we are providing long-term monitoring of a specific sheet pile section for the next five years for Mekante Diek. This route involves a trial of the best method of placement. Despite the limited scope of the assignment, we are proud of the contribution we can make to this beautiful project."

Online monitoring platform

Coincidence or not, ABO Group recently acquired Belgium-based company MEET HET. "The company is specialized in surveying and monitoring. They help us further professionalize in this field with expertise and experience," Aad says enthusiastically. "Moreover, they have a digital platform on which a client can log into his own portal and then view all the data in a GIS environment. A map shows the points being monitored as well as the parameters collected by the sensors. And when you click on those points, the measurement data appears in a graph relative to time." Aad expects that eventually all of Mekante Diek's data will also be housed in the online monitoring platform.

Precisely because we are part of the ABO Group, which, by the way, continues to expand and make acquisitions, we as Geosonda can offer a complete package of services. And the contractor has only one point of contact, says Aad in conclusion.