Displacement monitoring and sensitivity analysis in the observational method

This work discusses the fundamentals of designing deep excavation support by means of observational method. The effective tools for optimum designing with the use of the observational method are both inclinometric and geodetic monitoring, which provide data for the systematically updated calibration of the numerical computational model. The analysis included methods for selecting data for the design (by choosing the basic random variables), as well as methods for an on-going verification of the results of numeric calculations (e.g., MES) by way of measuring the structure displacement using geodetic and inclinometric techniques. The presented example shows the sensitivity analysis of the calculation model for a cantilever wall in non-cohesive soil; that analysis makes it possible to select the data to be later subject to calibration. The paper presents the results of measurements of a sheet pile wall displacement, carried out by means of inclinometric method and, simultaneously, two geodetic methods, successively with the deepening of the excavation. This work includes also critical comments regarding the usefulness of the obtained data, as well as practical aspects of taking measurement in the conditions of on-going construction works.