Boston Geothermal field monitoring
A pilot project of “Networked Geothermal” is conducted in Framingham, MA to explore the possibility of reducing carbon emissions through the district heating and cooling networks utilizing geothermal. By taking advantage of distributed fiber optic sensing technology, CSI conducted three distributed …
Bridge Monitoring with Distributed Fiber-optic Sensing Technology
The primary aim of this project is to explore the application of fiber optic sensing (FOS) for strain measurements at crucial points in reinforced concrete structures. This is intended to evaluate structural performance and identify potential damage. FOS enables real-time distributed measurements al…
Caltrans – Base Grouted Pile Testing
CSI participated in a full-scale field test of different base grouting technologies, using fiber optic sensing to measure strain and temperature development throughout the project. The project included the construction of 13 drilled shafts, base grouting of 12 of the 13, and full-scale load testing …
Caltrans – Micropile monitoring – Eureka, California
CSI participated in a full-scale field test of grout piles using Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (DFOS) to measure strain and temperature development throughout the project. The project involved the construction and load testing of 5 drilled grout columns for a Caltrans embankment construction proje…
Caltrans – DFOS-embedded Ground Anchors
Caltrans – Geotechnical Resistance Capacity and Stress Distribution of Soil/Grout Interface of Ground Anchors in Various Soil/Rock Conditions using Continuous Fiber Optics Strain Technology and Strain Compatibility Methodology CSI is working with Caltrans to develop a cutting-edge distributed fiber …
Caltrans – Evaluation of Soil Plug Geotechnical Resistance in the Design of CISS Piles
CSI has collaborated with Caltrans to deploy a distributed fiber optic sensing technology, specifically Distributed Strain Sensing (DSS) and Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) to quantify the effect of Cast-In-Steel Shell (CISS) pile soil plugging on pile capacity. The construction processes of C…
CEC / LBNL – NGS-SMART: Natural Gas Storage – Safety Monitoring with Autonomous Reflectometry Technologies
CSI has proposed to develop and field demonstrate an integrated suite of novel, autonomous, and real-time NGS wellbore integrity monitoring technologies based on distributed electromagnetic and fiber optic reflectometry methods. Wellbore integrity is of paramount importance to the safe storage of na…
CEC / LBNL- Integrated DFOS for Realtime Monitoring of OWT Gearbox and Tower Operation and Marine Animal Activities
UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers conducted a 4-point bend test and a shake table test to compare and evaluate the capabilities of two technologies: Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry (OFDR) and Phase-based Time Domain Reflectometry (φ-OTDR) in the context of offs…
CSI – DFOS-embedded Smart Road
At UC Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station, our innovative smart pavement incorporates fiber optic sensing cables embedded within a 100-meter-long stretch of hot mix asphalt roadway. Extensive experiments were conducted to assess the capabilities of phase-coherent optical time domain reflectometr…
DOE – Geothermal based Optimized Energy Systems (GOES)
The majority of electricity utilized by UC Berkeley, along with its entire steam supply for heating, is generated from a co-generation plant situated on campus, which, however, contributes to 80 % of campus CO2 emissions. Moreover, the aged energy delivery system suffers from serious distribution lo…
DOE / LBNL – Supported R&D on Optical Time Domain Reflectometer Dynamic Strain Sensing System Development and Application to Hydraulic Fracture
CSI, in collaboration with Texas A&M University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is part of a research team dedicated to establishing a cutting-edge field laboratory in the hydrocarbon-rich Eagle Ford Shale formation. Supported by the Department of Energy (DOE), their objective is to a…
EBMUD – Claremont Ave Pipeline Monitoring – Oakland, California
The Soga Research Group/Center for Smart Infrastructure is working with EBMUD to develop a cutting-edge system for monitoring pipelines that cross active earthquake faults. Distributed fiber optic sensors were installed in 2022 along an approximately 200m alignment of two critical water transmission…
Enel – Wind Turbine Tower Monitoring with Distributed Strain Sensing
CSI researchers fully instrumented a fully operational onshore wind turbine at the Rocky Ridge Wind Farm in Oklahoma in the Fall 2022. Analyzers using different technologies, including an analyzer that implements Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), are currently collecting data daily to perform long…
ENGEO – Embankment Settlement Monitoring – Treasure Island, California
The UC Berkeley team performed strain monitoring of soil vertical displacements using distributed fiber optic sensing for a surcharge pre-load program on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay. Unlike previous installations performed by the UC Berkeley team, the fiber optic cable for this project …
GeoSearch – Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) for Pipeline Detection & Augmented Reality (AR) Visualization
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a technology that can help to visualize underground objects without destructing the surface. This project aims to collaborate with the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and GeoSearch to quantify the value of this GPR-based underground mapping service in re…
Malcolm Drilling – Construction Equipment-Soil Interaction
Creating Subsurface Strain Cross-Sections using Distributed Strain Sensing: Application to Working Platform Design A team from the Soga Research Group led by Ph.D. candidate Peter Hubbard is working with a team from Malcolm Drilling led by Peter Faust to assess the performance of working p…
Millennium Tower – Pile Load Testing – San Francisco, California
CSI performed temperature and strain monitoring using point-based FBG and distributed fiber optic monitoring systems on a full-scale test pile for the Millennium Tower retrofit. The system involved two parallel monitoring systems – one consisting of multiple chains of FBG strain sensors and a second…
NSF – CMMI-EPSRC Modeling and Monitoring of Urban Underground Climate Change (MUC2)
CSI aims to advance understanding of the impacts of the urban underground on the subsurface temperature increase at the city scale. In this research, high-performance computing (HPC) based city-scale underground climate change simulator is developed. To calibrate and validate the numerical model, a …
Tishman Speyer – Long-term Settlement Monitoring – downtown San Francisco, California
Long-term settlement monitoring for Mission Rock, a 28-acre project site at San Francisco’s southern waterfront, aimed at transforming an existing parking lot to a mixed-use development comprising housing, commercial and park spaces for public. To monitor the settlement during the construction of de…
UC Berkeley – Campus Geothermal Borehole Testing
CSI has been investigating how communities can use ground source heat pumps and other geothermal technologies to provide energy more sustainably. The University of California, Berkeley, is building a clean electrified heating and cooling plant utilizing shallow geothermal to cut down greenhouse gas…
USACE – Levee Monitoring – Sacramento, California
USACE reconstructed some levee cutoff walls within the Sacramento River Area during the past two years. The levee cutoff wall is constructed by a mixture of cement, bentonite, and slag, which is a low permeability and high strength material. However, it becomes brittle as well. Under an event of flo…
USACE – Levee Performance Monitoring – Black Hawk, Louisiana
CSI designed and installed an array of fiber optic monitoring points in an area of past and suspected future sand boil development along a section of levee on the Mississippi River. The project included the installation of four approximately 100’ deep vertical monitoring points to observe vertical d…
USDOT – DFOS of pipelines affected by fault crossing and landslide
The Soga Research Group secured funding from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to create a distributed monitoring system designed for steel pipelines transporting hydrocarbons through geohazard-prone areas. This innovative system has been implemented on a substantial…