Investigation of the usage and benefits of sensors and sensor-based technologies in civil engineering applications

The concept of Industry 4.0, which represents digitalization in the industry, which can also be defined as the industrial revolution, and the developing technologies have also affected the construction industry. In this context, researchers focus on the use of technologies such as building information modeling (BIM), artificial intelligence, 3D printers and robotics, big data and sensor technologies in the construction industry. The construction industry is a dynamic industry branch that is more difficult to standardize production and site control than other industries, and the purpose of these studies is to make construction productions and field more efficient, controllable and safe. Since the services provided by the construction works constitute the infrastructure and superstructure of the cities, the resulting products are important for the safety of people's life and property and it is vital to monitor the quality and safety of structures. In addition, the construction sector has a large share in the country's economy and provides employment at a high rate due to its labor force, and it is also considered in the category of heavy and dangerous works in terms of work accidents. Occupational health and safety management in construction is also an important issue due to the large number of employees, the low level of education of the employees and the fact that they are from dangerous jobs. Sensor technologies, one of the developing technologies within the scope of Construction 4.0, are a technology that researchers focus on as a system that aims to provide automation in the monitoring of structures and worker health, to easily control variables that are difficult to control, and to facilitate the decision-making mechanism. In this study, studies on sensor and sensor-based technologies, structural health monitoring and occupational health safety applications were investigated and the contributions of this technology to the sector were discussed. Within the scope of the study, different applications made with 11 different sensors were investigated. These sensors are fiber optic, temperature, RFID, wearable technologies, accelerometer, piezoelectric, WLAN, GPS, UWB, Ultrasound and self-sensing technologies. As a result of the studies examined, the sensors will contribute to the construction sector in terms of helping the decision-making mechanism by measuring many variables.