Monitoring a 85m Russian landmark statue while the World Cup is in full swing

With much of the world’s attention currently focused on Russia and the FIFA World Cup, Acoem has been quietly focusing on monitoring one of her best-known landmarks. While nearly 200,000 football fans descend upon the city of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) as it hosts four matches, MV-x vibration monitoring system is accurately monitoring vibration frequency to control the stability of the city’s iconic The Motherland Calls (Mamayev monument), the largest statue in Europe.

The 85-metre high concrete statue, built in 1967 to commemorate the Battle of Stalingrad, had experienced some structural integrity problems with cracking and pieces falling from the top. The Ministry of Culture was determined to rectify any issues and ensure the safety of visitors prior to the World Cup, so it commissioned JSC “SOYUZINSTROY” to undertake restoration works including the replacement of the statue’s internal wire ropes.

Acoem’s Russian partner- Spectrum Engineering supplied, installed and setup the MV-x vibration monitoring system in late 2017.

The hollow statue was constructed using a combination of pre-stressed concrete and internal wire ropes. As the statue’s foundations move, it affects the structure of the statue and change the tension on its wire ropes. Using the MV-x monitoring system, each of the statue’s 117 ropes is bumped every two weeks to monitor its frequency and acquire data based on an overall velocity threshold. If the ropes are stretched or loosened, there is a shift to higher or lower frequencies versus the reference natural frequency, which will in turn set off lower and higher spectral band alarms.

Monitoring with unrivalled accuracy, the real-time automatic analysis of vibration data with MV-x and NEST software helps prevent structural failures and allows any anomalies or faults to be detected at a very early stage. The MV-x system will continue to monitor vibration and frequency changes of The Motherland Calls statue throughout 2018 and beyond.

“It’s a great honor for Spectrum Engineering to help protect The Motherland Calls structure. We are proud to bring our solid expertise in predictive maintenance and structural vibration analysis to this project and contribute to the preservation and transmission of our heritage,” said Igor Tsarik, Deputy Director at Spectrum Engineering.

Visit www.acoem.com for more information about the MV-x vibration monitoring system.

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