ABSTRACT
There are a number of wide-ranging potential influences impacting the accuracy of strain gauge results, encompassing a number of related construction areas: These include installation, environmental effects, construction activities and their position relative to structural members, all of which can result in erratic changes in the strain gauge readings, some of which are genuine load changes, some not.With the development of real time systems, the results can be automatically transferred to the internet for interpretation or sent to a mobile phone, but without any filtering of the erroneous readings. If received by inexperienced
personnel, commonly, all readings are treated as genuine, with the potential to cause unnecessary false panic and evacuation of the excavation, or erroneous and ignoring genuine changes in load. Either scenario results in a loss of confidence in the monitoring system. It is important therefore, that these very sensitive instruments and their performance be fully understood during interpretation and every effort taken to maximize the quality of the data.
