During construction of twin metro bores beneath a densely built historic city centre in India, Hypotenuse provided a real-time ground settlement monitoring system that protected 340 buildings, 12 utility corridors, and 4 heritage structures from TBM-induced subsidence. The platform triggered 9 TBM operational adjustments that prevented settlement from exceeding consent limits.
Background & Context
Technical Problem Statement
Sensor Deployment
Hypotenuse developed a predictive settlement model that combines TBM operational parameters with a Gaussian distribution ground loss model. The model predicts surface settlement 36 hours in advance for all buildings within 20 m of the alignment. When predicted settlement exceeds 70% of the consent limit, an automatic advisory is issued to the TBM operator and site geotechnician: Recommended face pressure adjustments are generated by the model, with the primary objective of staying within consent limits while maximising advance rate. The system proved especially effective in the transition between soft clay and decomposed granite — a zone where conventional empirical prediction methods significantly underestimated settlement.