As we move into May, the construction industry continues to face the reality of the coronavirus pandemic, however with precautionary measures in place, certain essential works continue. One of these is the Replacement of Chickamauga Lock, owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority and operated by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.
The Lock, located 7 miles upstream of Chattanooga is used to transport materials to and from industries, TVA facilities and the Department of Energy facilities at Oak Ridge. Due to issues with concrete aggregate which could ultimately cause closure of the lock, and the need to increase size to accommodate today’s barges, the project was deemed necessary.
Shortly after the award of Lock Chamber construction contract in 2017, Vibranalysis was awarded with a contract to perform monitoring of the Lock structures during completion of the works. The contract required that the existing monitoring system be taken over, and tied into a comprehensive monitoring package including the installation of a significant amount of new instrumentation.
The new and existing monitoring program consists of an automatic data collection system with over 50 Piezometer, 10 Pressure Cell, and 45 Inclinometer sensors, with an Automated Motorized Total Station network consisting of over 70 optical survey points. All data is collected in near real-time and uploaded to a secure web-enabled data management system.
It was deemed paramount by TVA, the Army Corp of Engineers, and AECOM that the performance of the monitoring system have the capability to provide early warning of any unanticipated movement of the structures. As such, an overhaul of the existing data collection system, upgrading components and integrating new sensors, was required.
Vibranalysis’ team of engineer and instrumentation specialists have been hard at work, meeting the tight guidelines that many of our colleagues in construction understand that the Army Corp of Engineers has. We are proud to be part of this important and challenging project and look forward to helping the project team cross the finish line!
AMTS Unit at the Chickamauga Dam