Europe’s ECSTATIC creates prototype fiber-based early-warning systems for critical infrastructure
Fiber cables aren’t just about carrying consumer and business internet traffic. A new European project known as ECSTATIC is looking at how existing fiber could be used to create real-time sensors that could help avoid catastrophic events by looking for hidden damage in infrastructure like bridges, train railway routes and gas and electric pipelines.
Coordinated by Aston University in the UK, the ECSTATIC project is trialing this approach in a major UK city, using a heavily used railway viaduct as its first live test site.
The EU-funded project aimed to detect subtle structural shifts, stress, and vibrations in real time, using laser light pulses sent through underground fiber cables.
Professor David Webb, ECSTATIC project coordinator, likens the system to being like a “global nervous system for critical infrastructure.”
“We are hoping to turn existing fiber-optic cables into a 24/7 early warning system, detecting the tiniest tremors or stress fractures before they become catastrophic,” he said. “If successful, it will be the difference between fixing a fault and cleaning up a tragedy.”
Leverage and extend
Given the cost and disruption it would take to install physical sensors across wide-reaching transport and energy networks, the ECSTATIC project aims to use existing fiber infrastructure.
When it turns up the first demonstration site (a central Victorian-era rail viaduct carrying tens of thousands of trains per year), researchers will send ultra-precise laser pulses through buried fiber cables. The overseers of the project said that as trains pass overhead, the fibers subtly flex and vibrate. These movements change how the light behaves inside the cable, altering the phase and polarization of the light, creating a kind of optical “fingerprint” of the forces acting on the structure.
Leveraging a new dual-microcomb photonic chip and advanced AI signal processing, the ECSTATIC project will be able to measure changes and interpret them to isolate early warning signs of damage or fatigue. This process can be done without any interruption to existing internet traffic or new fiber cables.
Webb said this measurement system will be crucial given the age of railway systems in the UK and throughout Europe.
“Cracks in bridges, viaducts, or tunnels don’t announce themselves; structures wear down gradually and silently, with the first signs of failure remaining invisible until it’s too late,” he said. “The UK and many places across Europe have hundreds of ageing railway bridges, with millions of vehicles passing under or over them each year. Many of the UK bridges date back to Victorian times, which could present a ticking time-bomb unless we take decisive steps to monitor them now.”
ECTSATIC’s experiments come at a time amidst reports of European bridge collapses in Germany and Italy.
Just last year in Germany, the Carolabrücke in Dresden partially collapsed without warning, severing critical utility lines, leaving parts of the city without hot water for several hours and triggering widespread transport disruption.
Potential for scale
The next step that ECSTATIC’s team is focused on is replicating the model across Europe and in other regions. What makes them confident that it could scale is the presence of over five billion kilometers of optical fiber already installed across the globe (through cities, oceans, and remote terrain).
A crucial proof point will be the UK trials. If the trials are successful, the approach could be put to use across Europe’s transport and energy networks, enabling less intrusive infrastructure monitoring at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems.
The ECSTATIC project, which runs until July 2028, brings together 13 partners from across Europe, including major universities Padova, L’Aquila, Chalmers, Alcalá, and West Attica. It also leverages the knowledge of industry players from the vendor and service provider segments, including Italia Sparkle, OTE Group, Nokia, Network Rail, MODUS, and Swiss SME Enlightra SARL, as well as the Greek seismology specialists NOA.
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