Clay shrinkage and swelling: using instruments to anticipate

Moreover, this geotechnical phenomenon has generated record annual damages of several billion euros, particularly during the 2022 drought, with losses estimated at more than 3 billion euros for insurers and communities.

Faced with these challenges, FEELBAT offers an innovative approach to structural monitoring based on intelligent connected sensors, enabling a shift from reactive disaster management to proactive, data-driven prevention.

The RGA: a major challenge for buildings and infrastructure

Recent studies by the Interministerial Delegation for Natural Risk Prevention show that the RGA (Rural Gap) is responsible for tens of thousands of claims in French buildings. This phenomenon, linked to extreme variations in soil moisture, causes differential movements that affect structures and lead to cracks, damage, or deterioration that is often costly to repair.

Continuous measurement and soil-structure correlation

FEELBAT's response is based on a comprehensive monitoring platform that integrates several types of sensors:

• Connected rain gauge, to accurately quantify rainfall;
• Soil moisture sensor (DELTA X-Hs), to continuously monitor the moisture status of the subsoil;
• Crack sensors, to measure the evolution of structural damage over time.

This combination of tools allows project owners, design offices and heritage managers to obtain objective and continuous data, often unavailable with traditional methods (one-off visits, manual surveys).

Dedicated RGA packages for tailored monitoring

To meet specific field needs, FEELBAT offers complete packages dedicated to monitoring structural risks. These packages combine rain gauges, soil moisture sensors, and crack sensors to provide an integrated view of the conditions affecting the integrity of structures.

The benefit of this type of approach is particularly strong for old buildings or dwellings built in clay areas, where ground movements are a significant source of problems.

Measurable benefits for industry players

Thanks to these solutions, construction operators and structural experts can:

• Reduce non-priority work by up to 50%

Continuous data analysis allows for the prioritization of actual interventions, avoiding nearly half of the precautionary work often carried out without a measured basis. (source: FEELBAT internal studies & feedback from construction sites)

• Reduce inspection costs by 35%

By replacing some on-site visits with remote supervision, direct inspection costs (personnel, travel, aerial work platforms, security) can be reduced by approximately one-third. (source: FEELBAT construction benchmarks & field data collection)

• Reduce emergency interventions by 40%

Real-time data makes it possible to anticipate deformation peaks and to plan actions proactively rather than reactively. (source: operator feedback / case studies)

• Reduce diagnostic and analysis times by 30%

Automated data collection reduces data processing time compared to individual measurements. (Survey of partner research firms)

• Increase efficiency in maintenance decisions by +25%

The combination of geotechnical, environmental, and structural parameters improves the quality of technical decisions, promoting more targeted and sustainable maintenance strategies. (source: project feedback and internal projections)

FEELBAT also emphasizes data accessibility via a web and mobile interface, with configurable alerts, automatic PDF reports and usable long-term measurement histories.

Towards more connected and predictive engineering

At a time when digitalization tools are multiplying in the world of building and infrastructure, connected monitoring represents an opportunity to anticipate structural risks through data.

For FEELBAT, it's not just about measuring movement or humidity variations, but about providing decision-makers with tools to:

• To understand precisely the actual behavior of their structures,
• Avoid inappropriate or premature interventions,
• Ensuring the sustainability of structures while controlling costs.

Faced with geotechnical phenomena such as RGA, this predictive and continuous approach marks a real break with classical methods, and opens the way to safer, more efficient and more resilient engineering.

Presence at the ConstructionTech Village by Digital Twin | BIMWorld

FEELBAT will present its connected structural monitoring solutions at the ConstructionTech Village by Digital Twin | BIMWorld, on April 1st and 2nd, 2026 at Paris Expo – Porte de Versailles.

The company thanks its partners and supporters in this dynamic of innovation, in particular the CCCA-BTP as well as Alvéoles – innovation branch of La Réunion, for their support in the development of technological solutions for the construction industry.