Profiling Sonar Device

Tender description

The University of Southampton intends to deploy a sonar device on a pier of a bridge (which still needs to be identified as many options are available) to monitor local and general scour of the river bathymetry in proximity of the pier foundations. The experiments intend to investigate the evolution of local scour across a wide range of temporal scales that go from hours to years. 1- The sonar should allow for long-term immersion periods (minimum 6 months, 1 year preferable) and require minimal maintenance. 2- The sonar should provide detailed 3-D river bathymetry in proximity of bridge-piers within reasonable time-scales. Ideally we are looking for one-beam sonar with a rotating head with adjustable rotating rates to accommodate different spatial resolutions for different time scales of flow conditions. This means that during a flood event we should be able to scan with a lower spatial resolution but at higher speed so that each complete scan can be assumed to be a “snapshot” of the scour hole in time and different snapshots can reveal the evolution of the scour hole in time reasonably well. In other instances (i.e. during calm conditions) we may need to perform accurate 3-D scans hence at low rotating rates. Applicants are required to provide details on the rotating heads rates their sonar system can accommodate. 3- Bathymetric data should be transferred with wireless telemetry directly to the computers at the University of Southampton. Applicants are required to provide details of the telemetry system and data transfer techniques (i.e. please provide easy examples to clarify concepts for non-expert users). 4- Operating frequencies of the sonar should be between 500 KHz and 1 MHz. Bridge applications involve water depths (and therefore range of operation) between 2-10m maximum, therefore frequencies approaching 1 MHz would be preferable. 5- User-friendly-Software for sonar control. 6- In their bids applicants should also aim at offering systems that have power requirements as low as possible. We intend to mount the sonar on a bridge pier and run it independently using e.g. solar panels or other forms of power supply. A system with low energy requirements would represent an advantage for this tendering. 7- We require that the fully inclusive sonar (complete of all necessary components to run it) should be available within maximum 12 weeks from purchase order.