The long-term structural performance of underground structures in reclamation areas is very sensitive to the vibrations caused by vehicles passing above the structures and environmental factors (e.g., tide levels, rainfall and temperature). In the present study, an integrated remote real-time structural health monitoring system using fiber Bragg grating sensors was developed to assess the structural performance of underground structures. Using a composite road box-type structure project in a reclamation area in Southern China as a case study, the developed real-time system was implemented to investigate the effects of changes in tide levels, rainfall, temperature and vehicle induced vibrations on crack propagation in the structure. The results show that the change in tide levels has little influence on the change in crack width in the structure, whereas variations in temperature could significantly influence the crack width with an average Pearson correlation of around 0.8. In addition, the crack width generally decreases with an increase in rainfall. Furthermore, a relatively low frequency (<25 Hz) induced by the traffic could result in a relatively larger crack width.
Keywords: crack width; fiber Bragg grating sensors; rainfall; reclamation area; temperature; tide levels; traffic induced vibration; underground structures.