An article about the design and construction of Principal Tower, London, has been published in the Structural Engineer Journal, the flagship publication of the Institution of Structural Engineers.
Written by R. Slade, M. Sharratt, R. Harvey, N. Petrioli of international engineering consultancy WSP, the article highlights CSIC’s innovative axial shortening monitoring system. The fibre optic system was trialled for the first time during the construction of the tower and provided continuous data throughout construction, enabling engineers and contractors to verify predictions and adjust assumptions if necessary. The trial was led by CSIC Research Associate Dr Nicholas de Battista, in collaboration with the overall project contractor, Multiplex, the frame contractor, Careys and the structural designers, WSP.
The article describes how the design strategy of the 50-storey residential Principal Tower was fundamentally different to the approach used by the designers of nearby buildings. Read the full article on The Structural Engineer’s website.
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Dr de Battista has also authored two other papers on the project:
- Monitoring the axial displacement of a high-rise building under construction using embedded distributed fibre optic sensors
- Distributed fibre optic sensor system to measure the progressive axial shortening of a high-rise building during construction
The project was featured in the November 2018 issue of Civil Engineering Surveyor.
