The world changed on the 5th November 2015 when the Samarco Bento Rodrigues tailings dam in Brazil failed, killing at least 17 people and contaminating the Doce River and ultimately the Atlantic.  The costs are running close to US$ 5 billion and will do doubt escalate due to ongoing claims against the mining houses who own​ the mine.

High piezometric levels in the tailings have been put forward as one of the reasons for the failure.  Now if piezometers had been installed in the tailings dam there would have been ample warning of the impending dangers, and inclinometers and embankment extensometers would have provided a plethora of displacement data both before and during the failure​.

In summary, monitoring may have assisted in averting the disaster.  We are in fact quite used to the idea of monitoring. Google and Facebook routinely monitor our on-line behaviour, our phone apps monitor our heart rates or driving styles ​which gets us better rates​ with our insurance companies​, we watch clocks all day, we measure our speed, our fuel consumption​ and the ambient temperature, and are grateful for this kind of information as it informs our decisions and helps us avoid explaining to the boss why we are late, or why we were speeding to the local ​cops.  

Positive benefits indeed, and this same culture of monitoring ​is easily extended to monitoring the performance of our structures and dams.  In fact, knowing how your infrastructure is performing can be critical, as in the case of the Samarco tailings dam.

You can monitor your instruments from the comfort of your bed​

​The technology has gotten so good now that you can monitor your structure from your office desk or even your bed - multichannel multiplexers allow data loggers to read a myriad of instruments and modems allow the dissemination of data via the cell phone network or the internet. ​It just gets easier and easier, provided that you set it up right at the outset.

Dam engineers are already well versed in the basic requirements of instrumentation, ​ and miners and civil engineers are catching on too.  Peace of mind is indeed a wonderful thing, and to be able to monitor the performance of your installation can provide a great deal of comfort, particularly in ​challenging environments like the Samarco installation.

​​However, one of the great shortcomings in the industry is a lack of knowledge by the those designing the systems​.  We as the specialists then have to decipher the specifications provided in a tender document and then invariably design the system ​ thanks to​ the inherent deficiencies in the tender documentation.  Involving us at the outset ​​sidesteps all of these issues.

Short circuits in the system

Another challenge ​are the short circuits that take place between the members of an organisation, or between the ears of the operator rather than ​within the system itself.  People resign, move on, hand over or retire​, so continuity becomes an issue, leading to system 'failure'.  We can solve this problem by taking on the responsibilities of managing, updating, processing and managing your data.

GeoZone GeoServices and Sisgeo Geotechnical Instrumentation have been making it happen since 2010 with regard to instrumentation and monitoring here in Southern Africa and as such are well placed to supply a wide range of instruments for any civil engineering or mining project.  We also have the capacity to provide a turn-key package, which includes the design​ of the system, installation thereof, and the ongoing collection and management of the data.  

Please contact GeoZone GeoServices on info@geozone.co.za, visit www.geozone.co.za or call on 033 343 3915 or 082 9260626