Xinzhuang Depot – Taiwan

Taipei Metro (Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation) underwent construction on Xinzhuang Depot in the Xinzhuang MRT Station to improve their quality of services. The multi-level train depot includes a guardhouse, train stabling areas, a sewage treatment plant, waste storage yard, maintenance plant, administrative office, substations, an electric multiple unit (EMU) washing yard, police department rapid transit subdivision and more.

However, the construction site lies within the Xinzhuang Fault Perturbation Zone. Soil integrity here is highly unstable given the variability of geologically-derived earth soil as well as a high tendency for soil decompression and expansion.

To address this issue, Taipei Metro collaborated with construction consultants to monitor the ground and structure for abnormalities and discern site displacements and tilts. This monitoring process, taking 18 months, was carried out using MEMS tiltmeters and LVDT sensors.

Monitoring these sensors is a crucial part of this project. However, both cable-based and manual monitoring systems were deemed unfeasible for the job. The former came with the risk of cable damage posed by the tunnel itself that would result in high maintenance costs, and the latter would lead to significant time consumption, high probability of inaccurate readings, access difficulty, and considerable risk to worker safety.

Instead, the client opted to use Ackcio Beam for wireless monitoring. 15 Ackcio Analogue 4-Sensor Nodes were installed in the train tunnel to transmit tilt and LVDT sensor data to a single Gateway mounted above ground. Due to the low signal range within the tunnel, Repeater Nodes were also installed to ensure reliable data transmission from Analogue Nodes to the Gateway.

The automated wireless monitoring system uploaded accurate and reliable data in real-time to the appointed server at less than half the cost of cable-based or manual monitoring solutions.