Fighting Earthquake Damage with Geotextile

The European Union partially funds POLYTECT (Polyfunctional Technical Textiles against Natural Hazards) to find technical textiles made with carbon and glass fibers to stabilize structures damaged by earthquakes, landslides or other natural disasters. The POLYTECT researchers are integrating fiber optic cables into geotextiles and 3D rope-like textiles, giving engineers the potential to detect temperature changes, humidity, stiffness or chemicals in building structures, as well as pass light and information back along the sensors to find out whether soil is moving.