News - Fiber monitoring line implemented in field experiment

In April 2021, the construction of the flexible coupling field experiment was finally going forward in big steps. All materials and construction pieces were available at the local mechanic workshop in Iceland. The construction was coordinated by the ÍSOR. The project partner from GFZ Potsdam was responsible to time their field campaign to Iceland in the right time, so that the installation of the fiber-optic monitoring line can be performed without temporal delay. Due to the excellent and ongoing communication and support of all partners involved, the installation of the fibers could be performed just as planned.

Once the installation of the fibers was concluded, the monitoring line had to be safely protected for the remaining working steps in order to assemble the field experiment. While the fibers are just being delicate and fine structures that brake easily (a fiber has a diameter of less than a quarter of a millimeter!), the remaining experiment which consists of steel and concrete weights tons. Subsequently to the fiber installation, the whole structure needed to be hoisted, inclined, maneuvered into an outer casing, welded, filled with concrete, placed in a offshore container and transported to the experimental site in the field. All of this, while taking care of the delicate sensing line. The mechanical engineers and technicians at VHE erf. did an extraordinary good job and we were very thankful that all the planning and implementation could work just as planned!