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In 1965, the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering (formerly, Department of Surveying Engineering) at the University of New Brunswick initiated a specialization in engineering and mining surveying at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. From the very beginning, a research program was initiated to develop new techniques and methods for high precision engineering and mining surveys including monitoring, modeling, and predicting structural and rock strata deformations in mines, tunnels, large dams, etc. The research program in deformation studies concentrated on 1) automation and integration of monitoring techniques, 2) development of methods for integrated analysis, modeling, and physical interpretation of structural and rock strata deformation using the finite element method (FEM). Significant progress has been made in both topics. The current trend in monitoring structural and ground deformations is to have fully automated, stand alone systems that can continuously collect and analyze the monitoring data. An ALERT Deformation Detection System (ALERT-DDS) is the latest development. The data are gathered, processed, and analyzed and alarms are generated in a fully automated mode.

Monitoring and analysis of ground subsidence were initiated in populated mining areas in central Europe about 150 years ago. Various empirical methods for modelling and prediction of subsidence were developed by mining surveyors in central Europe in the first half of this century. Over the past twenty years, significant contributions to the development of new monitoring techniques and numerical modelling and prediction of ground subsidence have been made by Canadian geodetic and geomatics engineers in co-operation with specialists in geomechanics. Monitoring and numerical modelling of ground subsidence in a potash mine in New Brunswick and use of monitoring surveys in modelling stress distribution in rock masses in a copper mine in Poland serve as examples of the current applications of the Canadian developments.

In 1969, two consecutive earthquakes activated a reverse fault at an elevation of 4600 m in the Huaytapallana mountain range near Huancayo in central Peru. In 1975, a small geodetic network was established and measured across the fault covering an area of about 1.5 km 2. The network has been remeasured in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1982, using standard geodetic instruments, as a joint effort by two Canadian and one German universities in cooperation with the Peruvian Institute of Geophysics. In 1978, the network was expanded to cover 6 km 2. High-altitude sickness, logistic problems with old vehicles, civil unrest and riots plagued the survey expeditions. The results show a cyclic rigid body motion of the southwest side versus the northeast side of the fault in a general east-west direction of about ± 3 mm/year. The direction of the motion agrees with the direction of compressive forces expected in this subduction region. The next survey campaign is planned for 1987.

A new methodology has been developed for the optimization design of integrated deformation monitoring schemes with geodetic and geotechnical observables. The method allows for a fully analytical solution of the optimal configuration and observational weights satisfying the preset design criteria of precision, sensitivity, reliability, and economy simultaneously. The optimization principle using only the precision criterion is briefly reviewed in this paper, followed by two optimization examples which demonstrate the efficiency of the methodology.

Ground movement studies can utilize information from conventional geodetic surveying, photogrammetry, and geotechnical measurements of strain, tilt, etc. Each method alone cannot yield a complete picture of the deformation. However, each is complemented by the others. Hence, their integration in a simultaneous analysis in space and in time is advocated. An integrated analysis is readily accommodated by a generalized method of deformation analysis devised by the authors. Any number of measurements of any type can be considered in any fashion of modelling with full statistical assessment of the modelling and of derived characteristics. Such an integration is illustrated using data from a coal mining area in rugged mountainous terrain of western Canada. Conventional terrestrial geodetic methods connected 15 stations. Displacements from an additional 29 points were obtained from aerial photogrammetry. Biaxial tiltmeters continuously measured ground tilts at 3 stations. A surface of subsidence for the whole area was modelled with the graphical depiction in three dimensions.

Large engineering constructions and first-order geodetic control nets often require a relative accuracy of 10^−6 or better in positioning of survey points. A team from the University of New Brunswick has developed new instruments for precision alignment surveys and for engineering and geodetic leveling which satisfy the demands for accuracy. Prototypes of integrating centering detectors have been designed and constructed which allow alignment of laser beams with an accuracy of 0.2 see of arc in a turbulent atmosphere over distances of a few kilometers. Two types of laser plummets have been developed to set a laser beam in a vertical direction with an accuracy of 0.5 see of arc or better. A He–Ne laser has been adapted to a conventional self-aligning level giving a standard error of 0.7 mm/km in determination of a difference in elevation. A new type of laser level has been constructed which gives new possibilities for precision leveling.