NCC has full control over the casting of the Centralen underground station

Published 2022-08-09

Simply and safely without interference. This is how Ida Alexandersson and Staffan Johansson review the yellow measurement boxes from the Celsicom Easy Connect measurement system used to remotely monitor the casting of an underground train station.

There is a flurry of activity just north of Gothenburg Central Station. The Centralen phase of the West Link double-track railway for commuter and regional trains under central Gothenburg is underway there. On behalf of the Swedish Transport Administration, NCC is responsible for the construction of an underground station called Station Centralen. At various locations in the vast concrete shell, 35 Celsicom TC603 boxes are suspended, providing continuous valuable data from the casting of concrete slabs, external and internal walls and roofs.

Checking the cooling and the status of the concrete
The yellow concrete computers enable efficient and safe remote measurement. This is what Staffan Johansson and Ida Alexandersson, supervisor and assistant supervisor at NCC, say as we stand looking down into the concrete shell that will house the 700 long and 50 meter wide new underground train station. Below us, 1,700 cubic meters of concrete are used to cast a 940 square meter concrete slab. A yellow box makes sure that the water, which cools the concrete to prevent cracking, is at the right temperature.

Two other boxes record the temperature evolution of the concrete during the curing process through two measuring wires each cast into the concrete. NCC has been using the Celsicom Easy Connect monitoring system for a couple of months.

– Everything is working very well. There is no interference at all and the boxes log every ten minutes, which means we get very reliable strength curves,” says Ida.

The measurement system has been easy to use from the very beginning, she says.

– The day we got them here, we could start using them right away. Just peel off a small sticker and they were connected directly to the login (in Celsiview) that we have – and started measuring immediately. It was very smooth, no problems at all.

Staffan agrees. The yellow boxes have made the job much easier, he says.

– We have full control over the temperature of the concrete. All such updated information is available at all times on your computer or mobile phone. This means that we can, for example, go in and immediately say: Okay, now we’ve got the right strength for the structure – let’s demolish the mold.

For NCC, the Celsicom boxes provide security during the continued work on the underground station, the train tunnel and other parts of Phase Centralen.

– I think the most important thing is that you can quickly check if there is an interruption. Nowadays you spend more time inside than outside. Then it feels good to be able to easily go to our site and see if all measuring points are running,” says Staffan Johansson.

Ida Alexandersson adds:

– You can more easily keep track of what is happening. If a test lead is pulled out, you will see exactly what time this happened.

Safe casting until 2024
The 35 existing boxes will remain in operation for another four years as NCC is expected to complete the concrete work for this phase of the West Link.

– Whether we then manage on them alone is another matter. We may have to cast twice as much for a few weeks to meet the schedule, and then we will have to buy more yellow measuring boxes,” says Staffan Johansson.