The Fornebu Line project, the largest transport project in Oslo in more than 20 years, was finally approved in January 2018 after various proposals and years of planning. The new metro line which is part of Norway’s latest National Transport Plan, will run westward from Oslo’s transport hub at Majorstuen to Fornebu - the site of Oslo’s old airport that has since been redeveloped with large office complexes, housing projects and open space. The project owner, Oslo Kommune Fornebubanen, needed to do monitoring before, during and after the construction period which can span more than 10 years. To prepare for the geotechnical monitoring for the construction that will start approximately by the end of 2019, the project required a wireless data acquisition system to gather data from sensors that were to be installed in and around the tunnel that will span approximately 8,3 kilometers. To capture and transmit accurate data over this wide territory, the data nodes need to be compatible with different types of sensors and have to ensure minimal manual maintenance when replacing batteries to keep operating costs down and be eco-friendly.
Even before the start of the construction phase, approximately 200 Loadsensing Vibrating Wire 1-channel polycarbonate and aluminum wireless data nodes are already successfully collecting and transmitting data from different types of sensors, such as push-in piezometers from Geonor for pore pressure measurements, and embedment piezometers from other vendors for ground water level measurements. As opposed to common networks such as GSM based communication, Loadsensing uses LoRaWAN connectivity: a long-range, low-power wireless technology used by IoT networks worldwide. The system’s low-power components remain on sleep mode and are only activated at predetermined times, allowing a battery lifespan of up to 8 years.
By using Loadsensing nodes operated wirelessly through LoRa instead of GSM, Oslo Kommune Fornebubanen
benefits from near-real time data transmissions, and they also save on costs of manual maintenance due to the
low-power data nodes, which are expected to last until 2029, 3 years beyond the scheduled project completion in 2026.
The metro transit system will also be able to eventually support the additional morning rush-hour commuters expected on this route, based on plans to locate 20,000 new jobs and up to 11.000 new homes in Fornebu. About Worldsensing Worldsensing is a widely recognized global IoT pioneer. Founded in 2008, the Barcelona-based technology provider delivers Operational Intelligence to traditional industries and cities. With over 90 employees and offices in Barcelona, London and Los Angeles, Worldsensing is globally active and has customers in over 50 countries on 6 continents.
About Geonor
GEONOR AS, founded in 1957, has been a pioneer in the development of geotechnical field equipment, geotechnical laboratory equipment, and in particular geotechnical and meteorological instrumentation based on vibrating-wire technology. Key partners in this development have been the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, the Public Roads Administration and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Geonor has proven solutions which are constantly developed by combining new sensors, wireless communications and Internet- based solutions.
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