Transportation Structural Health Monitoring

Rail intrusion, tunnel and bridge monitoring — DAS + DTSS-BOTDR with laser ranging, one fiber base for three sensing methods.

Challenges

Four safety challenges of transport infrastructure

Rail intrusion

Falling rocks, clearance violations and people entering the track directly threaten train safety; manual patrol can't provide round-the-clock coverage.

Slope instability

Rail and road slopes face landslide risk from rainfall and construction, with subtle precursors that are hard to catch in time.

Structural degradation

Tunnel convergence, lining cracks and bridge strain evolve slowly and need long-term continuous data for sound assessment.

Long-structure monitoring is hard

Tunnels and bridges span wide; point sensors cost too much for full coverage with many failure points, and fragmented data can't form a full picture.

Solution Architecture

Architecture: three sensing methods together

DAS + DTSS-BOTDR + laser ranging share one fiber base, covering intrusion, deformation and convergence.

Sensing 1 · DAS

Rail intrusion & slope monitoring

DAS uses existing co-located fiber to identify rail intrusion, abnormal vibration and slope-movement precursors in real time — 160 km (dual channel) covering long sections with meter-level localization.

Sensing 2 · DTSS-BOTDR

Tunnel & bridge strain monitoring

DTSS-BOTDR measures tunnel-lining and bridge-girder strain distribution at ±5 με accuracy and ≤1 s measurement time; single-ended access suits existing structures with no blind zones.

Sensing 3 · Settlement

Tunnel convergence monitoring

Laser range-finding complements the fiber strain data to monitor cross-section convergence, forming a complete structural health picture.

Proven Strength

Benchmark projects & key metrics

±5με

DTSS-BOTDR strain accuracy (industry avg ±10–20)

≤1s

Measurement time (industry avg ≥20 s)

160km

DAS dual-channel monitoring distance

Record cross-section

A major highway operator

Structural health monitoring for the largest cross-section highway tunnel at the time of construction — continuous structural data via DTSS-BOTDR.

View case

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Strain-sensing cable is laid on or inside the tunnel lining: DTSS-BOTDR monitors deformation (strain) and crack growth, laser range-finding monitors convergence, and DAS monitors abnormal vibration — long-term automated structural health monitoring.

Yes. Strain cable can be surface-bonded or groove-embedded on the existing structure; DTSS-BOTDR single-ended access suits already-buried fiber, with controllable impact on operations.

Usually not. Railways already have co-located communication fiber; DAS uses a spare core for continuous long-section monitoring — a low-cost reuse of existing assets.

DTSS-BOTDR (Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry) needs only single-ended access, ideal for existing structures; BOTDA needs double-ended access with higher precision but deployment limits. LandSub Global DTSS-BOTDR delivers ±5 με and ±0.5 °C with dual strain+temperature sensing.

Get a transportation monitoring solution & quote

Tell us your rail, tunnel or bridge scenario — we'll design the sensing architecture.

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