Comprehensive review of the monitoring and sensing system in slopes with a special focus on the mining sector

Abstract

The failure of slopes due to various natural processes or extensive mining activities is a common problem that has an adverse impact on the environment and may result in severe casualties. Despite taking all the geotechnical considerations for the safe design of slopes, there could be unpredictable slope failure because of unexpected weather, seismic activities, or involvement of unidentified geological structures. Thus, continuous monitoring, forecasting, and warning of slope failures are imperative to save lives and property from devastation. This study was conducted to review the various slope monitoring techniques and propose the best possible monitoring system. The conventional instruments used for slope monitoring are wired, involving the human presence. In contrast, the economic Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), being less complex, may be utilized for real-time slope monitoring from a distant place to provide early warning about an imminent failure. The proposed early warning monitoring system will consider the local site conditions and be able to obtain various kinds of data regarding the factors influencing slope stability. The monitoring system will be flexible and efficient enough to provide timely warnings with a much higher life time by utilizing energy-efficient ZigBee protocols for communication. A switching mechanism is also proposed to take advantage of network topologies like star and tree. During bad weather, star topology will provide data at a higher rate, and during good weather conditions, tree topology will provide data at a lower rate by letting some nodes go into sleep mode, thus decreasing power consumption.