Wireless Multihop Networks in Mission Critical Realtime Monitoring and Alerts for Construction Sites

In major construction projects involving extensive excavation and tunneling, it is crucial to have accurate realtime monitoring to ensure that support structures are not excessively stressed as these could lead to collapse and fatalities. The integration of machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies has been proposed to improve the process of transferring data from the sensors in the monitoring sites to be promptly processed into information that can assist engineers in handling unexpected events. While the use of M2M technologies in the construction industry has been increasing, much more can be exploited from wireless communications to improve the productivity levels and more importantly the safety aspects. In this paper, we present a realtime monitoring and alert system integrated with a multihop wireless network. Besides replacing the wiring which can pose significant problems in a construction site, wireless communications also makes the system less vulnerable to lightning and other problems. With the wireless transmission devices located near the sensors, we reduce the wiring substantially and using a multihop architecture enables us to extend the communication range by relaying data from one radio to another until the on-site data logger.