PhD Candidate Peter Hubbard will present SRG’s smart water pipeline monitoring solution for large-diameter high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes crossing geohazards at the Plastic Pipes International conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on 6-8 September 2021.
The solution is based on distributed strain sensing (DSS) and includes a fiber-optic analyzer that was completely developed within SRG. The full monitoring solution includes the SRG Brillouin-based DSS analyzer, a reinforced tightly bonded fiber optic sensing cable, and a three-stage attachment method for HDPE pipeline surfaces. The system acts as a shape sensor which can inform a utility about the deformed state of a buried pipeline as it is gradually or immediately deformed by a geohazard such as an earthquake fault or landslide.
The development of the system was supported in part by the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). EBMUD is planning to install two new large-diameter HDPE water pipelines crossing the Hayward fault in Berkeley. Figure 1 shows the geometry of the Hayward fault in relation to the new pipeline alignments. SRG’s solution will be installed on both a 22” and 36” HDPE pipeline and will monitor the deformed shape as the fault slips for at least 10 years.
Figure 1. The planned EBMUD pipeline alignments crossing the Hayward fault near the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, CA.