We build and deliver, shorter terms, effective solutions only in the short term, high cost pressure, professional resources at the limit, reluctance to innovation. But what do we do in the long run? What's happening in the operation? In 5 years, in 10, 20, 50 years?
Legislation in the field requires fairly clear rules regarding the behavior of structures in exploitation, a certain care of the owners over their assets.
The activity of maintenance and follow-up of the behavior in time takes place according to the provisions of Law 10/1995, the Regulation regarding the exploitation follow-up, the interventions in time and post use of the constructions approved by the HGR no 766/1997, the Norm regarding the tracking of the time behavior of the P130-1999, etc.
"At the moment, in the vast majority of civil and infrastructure projects, the chapter on tracking behavior in operation is succinct, with strict reference to the rules in force, without a detailed analysis, an adaptation of the project specifications given to the legislation, without a clear plan of risk monitoring identified from the execution stage or completely missing. Why ? Safe, low-cost and long-term construction operation is not a concern? This should be the main objective from which to develop it, the red line to which all relate, from authorization, design to construction. The budgeting of a construction project should not stop at commissioning, but also cover operating costs for the estimated lifetime. Certainly, just in this way it will be understood the importance of the quality level in design and construction, "says Mariana Garstea, CEO, Sixense.
The construction life is difficult to predict because the degree of incidence of loads is not known and the wear processes are not linear. This is a major challenge, both for the structural safety engineers and for those responsible for the operation and maintenance of the buildings. Ensuring building skills for normal exploitation, accident prevention, material damage, loss of human lives, environmental degradation is the basic purpose of tracking activity in construction.
"The structural monitoring of " health "of construction is a more and more used term in recent years to describe a series of systems implemented on large-scale structures. It aims at informing the operators about the continuity of changes in the technical state of the structures, in the case of its gradual or sudden modification and about the mechanism of response and loading of the structure ", adds Mariana Garstea, CEO, Sixense.
In this context, structural monitoring systems aim to provide the best possible picture of the voltage state and are designed to improve the foreseeability of the repairs and the lifetime of the structures.
Performance monitoring and estimation of the useful life of buildings must be the major objective in the civil engineering community.
Understanding the physical behavior of construction as integrated systems and impact on energy efficiency, durability, convenience and indoor air quality is essential to innovate high-performance buildings, increase their durability and lifespan
