GEO-Instruments worked with Bouygues to provide Instrumentation and Monitoring for the construction of Oriel, a new world-leading eye health centre in Central London
The project
Located at St Pancras Hospital, Oriel is a partnership between Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (IoO) and Moorfields Eye Charity, which is dedicated to advancing eye care, research and education.
Bouygues, the principal contractor on the £300 million project, began demolition of buildings currently on site in early 2023. The completed 10-storey, 47,000 sq. metre centre is planned to open in 2027.
The challenge
The project requires the structural monitoring of hospital buildings and roads next to the construction site.
Other key assets that are a focus for monitoring include a water tower, chimney and utility tunnel.
These required working at height or otherwise restricted access
Many parts of the monitoring scheme require high frequency readings 24 hours a day.
The solution
24-hour automated monitoring was achieved using Wireless Tiltmeters installed on key structures around the site as well as regular 3D surveys and levelling runs.
One of the more complex aspects of instrument installation was the fixing of Wireless Tiltmeters to the water tower and nearby chimney. The sensors needed to be installed relatively high up compared to the other buildings, requiring access using a Mobile Elevating Work Platform (MEWP).
The tiltmeters are mounted on metre-long fibreglass beams fixed at each end to the monitored assets. Aligned vertically, they provide a highly accurate method of monitoring changes in inclination of the structure.
More than 50 3D survey targets have been established on the same buildings to give a complete picture of structural movement related to site works.
Survey teams will undertake weekly 3D surveys and levelling loops during all the key phases of demolition and construction over the course of the project.
Survey control establishment was undertaken a few weeks prior to installtion of Instrumentation and survey targets.