State-of-the Art of Geotechnical Monitoring with Geodetic Techniques

Within the last decades geodetic deformation monitoring has evolved from manual measurements of a small number of marked points to fully automated, large scale and high precision automatic warning systems. This article reviews the state-of-the art and discusses the potential of current geodetic techniques. It is demonstrated that modern geodetic techniques are capable to perform long-term measurements with millimetre or even sub millimetre accuracy over long distances and completely remotely. This is crucial especially in geotechnical monitoring where the structure may not be accessible due to safety reasons. The applicability of methods like laser scanning, robotic total stations, image based measurements and further more is demonstrated with case studies including the monitoring of landslides, retaining walls, pipelines and water dams.