Clontarf firm Ignites future with crack sensor

A tech company, which started in a Clontarf garage, is now providing sensors to the CBUS tower in Brisbane and the world’s largest lithium mine in Western Australia.

Concrete Data Sensors has also moved into new offices at Clontarf and received $100,000 in Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas funding from the State Government.

Director Andrew Cathcart, pictured above, said they were the only sensors which could be “cast into any concrete structures, rock or soil to measure movement and structural integrity”.

Instead of waiting for cracks, collapses or failures - in such as high-rising buildings, tunnels and bridges - the sensors spot issues immediately, sending owners and builders alerts and locations.

Seven years

“Our technology is way ahead of anything else on the market,” Mr Cathcart said. “Fully wireless and blast resistant, the sensors run at least seven years without a continuous electricity connection.”

“This provides all stakeholders peace of mind that the structure elements are performing safely as designed and not showing any signs of fatigue or failure.”

Mr Cathcart said the company spent two years developing it and 18 months putting the technology through its paces. Bond University did lab testing and trials with Edge Consulting Engineers.

“Currently there are sensors that only measure the strength of the in-place concrete with a maximum lifespan of three to six months,” Mr Cathcart said.

Great confidence

“There are also large, very expensive and cumbersome sensors which sit outside a structure and need continual power to monitor movement.

“Our technology is state-of-the-art. We have great confidence in its future.”

Tim Peter, Chairman of edge Engineers, added: “The ability real time data of the structural performance is a new and exciting technology.”

Innovation Minister Stirling Hinchliffe praised innovators, such as Concrete Data Sensors, saying they are a “significant part of our Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan”.

New staff

“The company has already put on four new staff to help generate millions of dollars for Queensland’s innovation led economic recovery,” he said.

State Member for Redcliffe Yvette D’Ath added: “Innovation is important for the Moreton Bay Region’s jobs of the future, and this is one Redcliffe Peninsula business off to a flying start."

For more information about Ignite Ideas: https://advance.qld.gov.au/ignite-ideas-fund-round-8-recipients