Monitoring of groundwater in Drammen

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175 poretrykksmpålere overvåket kontinuerlig grunnvannstanden i Drammen for Bane NOR fra 2018 til ferdigstillelse sommeren 2025.

175 pore pressure gauges continuously monitored the groundwater level in Drammen for Bane NOR from 2018 until completion in summer 2025.

Cautus Geo monitored the groundwater in Drammen with real-time data from 175 sensors when Bane NOR built the new Vestfold railway through the city.

Problem statement

The Vestfold Line has been extended with a double track through Drammen. Two railway stations have been rebuilt. Tracks have been re-laid. New tunnels have been built. The tracks at the railway station have been raised to meet climate change. Extensive groundwork has been carried out in challenging ground conditions. Changes in groundwater can cause major damage to buildings and facilities.

Solution

Cautus Geo installed 175 sensors along the entire construction site. The sensors were put in place from 2018, before work started, and measured the groundwater level until everything was completed in the summer of 2025. Real-time data was collected and continuously analysed in Cautus Web. Alarm limits for variation were set. The aim was to warn of any changes before there was a risk of subsidence damage to buildings and facilities.

Bane NOR and Cautus Geo signed the contract for groundwater monitoring in the Drammen-Kobbervikdalen project in 2018. The first sensors were in place after a short time. This ensured documentation of the normal groundwater level before work started.

Controlling groundwater is crucial. Changes can damage buildings and facilities. Major subsidence damage can occur.

Cautus Geo established remote monitoring. Real-time data from 175 sensors was continuously analysed in Cautus Web.

Many of the sensors were placed deep below ground level. The only visible ones were log cabinets with solar panels that were placed around Drammen city centre. In addition, a dozen or so pore pressure gauges and water level gauges in wells installed in 2015 for manual reading were connected to Cautus Geo's loggers for transmission of real-time data to Cautus Web.

FACTS: The new Vestfold Line through Drammen

The construction of a new double track in Drammen has been approved by the Norwegian Parliament with a cost framework of NOK 14.6 billion.
The main work started in autumn 2019.
The project included the remodelling of Drammen and Gulskogen stations.
A six-kilometre rock tunnel, a 275-metre immersed tunnel and a 700-metre concrete tunnel have been built.
Construction work was completed in 2025.