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Continuous Geophysical Monitoring in a Railway Setting: A Four-Year Case Study
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, NSG 2025: 4th Conference on Geophysics for Infrastructure Planning, Monitoring and BIM, Sep 2025, Volume 2025, p.1 - 5
Abstract
Summary
Due to climate imbalance, events such as landslides and sinkholes are expected to increasingly threaten aging railway networks, leading to serious safety concerns, material damage, and higher maintenance costs. To mitigate the risk of infrastructure failure, a predictive maintenance strategy based on geotechnical information is essential. However, acquiring direct geotechnical measurements through boreholes with adequate spatial and temporal resolution is both challenging and expensive. Geophysical methods can provide physical parameters that can be translated into key geotechnical indicators, such as earthwork stiffness or critical velocity. The main challenge lies in capturing this information over time. While snapshot imaging is feasible, continuous monitoring to track temporal changes remains complex and demanding.
This case study illustrates a four-year passive seismic monitoring campaign conducted in eastern France, along a railway segment prone to sinkhole formation. The rail segment was instrumented with a wired accelerometer network and continuously monitored, with trains acting as natural seismic sources. The approach demonstrates the reliability of seismic interferometry, using surface waves generated by passing trains to enable imaging of the near-surface structure.
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