Remote, Real-Time Monitoring of a High-Security Site in Singapore

Challenge

At the Tengah Air Base in western Singapore, two new buildings were constructed in 2021. The project contractor needed to ensure that the structures, which have curved steel roofs topped with concrete and covered with a layer of soil, were safe and stable under this heavy load. 

“They wanted to know how much the compression and tension have been affected by the load activity,” says Shang Zhi Yang, an instrumentation engineer at Soil Investigation, the Singapore-based geotechnical investigation firm with the monitoring contract for the project. 

Soil Investigation installed 20 strain gauges in each of the two buildings, which are approximately 30 metres apart, and separated by a concrete wall.  

In selecting the ideal monitoring solution for the project, the site’s location and security were the top considerations. Access to the military base, a remote, highly controlled site, makes manual data collection a challenge. The client also required a completely secure and private on-the-edge solution rather than one on the cloud.

“We could use a manual data logger, but we wouldn’t be able to submit real-time readings, as it’s a remote area to access,” Zhi Yang says. “It would be a problem to visit the site every day.”

Soil Investigation wanted an automated monitoring system that would eliminate the need to send workers to the site and that would remotely stream readings to assess the safety and stability of the structures in real-time. 

Solution

Soil Investigation selected Ackcio’s unique mesh wireless system for its remote, real-time reliability. Soil Investigation deployed three Ackcio 8-channel Vibrating Wire Nodes (BEAM-VW-S8) and one Ackcio Gateway (BEAM-GW) on each building. The Gateways are installed on the buildings’ exterior walls and powered by solar panels. 

Benefits

• Reliable communication from a remote site 
• 100% secure and private sensor data collection
• Eliminates the need for manual data collection 
• Remotely adjust the reading frequency
• Easy to redeploy equipment  

 Results

• Remote, real-time data access
• Decreased workforce costs 
• Improved risk management

Monitoring at the Tengah project, which began in November 2021, is ongoing. The system is reliably streaming approximately 1,500 data points a month from the base to Soil Investigation’s Singapore offices. Soil Investigation plans to transfer the Ackcio Nodes and Gateway to two more buildings being built on the base. Ackcio’s product durability and the cost savings realized by reusing the hardware have been a great benefit to the project. 

Ackcio provided the perfect solution in terms of automation, remote access, security and privacy.  

Testimonial

The Ackcio Beam solution was able to address all the challenges under such restrictive conditions on a military base.  

– Shang Zhi Yang, Instrumentation Engineer from Soil Investigation