3. Monitoring and maintenance of GC structures: wireless sensor networks

3.1 A favorable technological context

Evolving needs in the control and monitoring of civil engineering structures call for the development of high-performance instrumentation systems. Generally speaking, this development is the result of a major research effort, an active technology watch and feasibility studies designed to detect and test new tools likely to meet emerging user requirements. In essence, modern instrumentation makes massive use of electronic techniques: conditioning and conversion of physical quantities from a sensor into digital data, processing, storage and communication of this data by microprocessor systems in networks, etc.

The application of these NDT measurement techniques to civil engineering implies demanding specifications for developers,...