This contribution gives an overview of some recent advances with regard to measurement techniques applied in geotechnical engineering practice. It focusses mainly on the use of fibre optic technology and especially on the experience of the Geotechnical Division of the BBRI with the multi-point FBG optical fibre technique. Since 2007 BBRI applied this measurement technique in many research programs and on several real job sites. The examples in this paper show that fibre optic sensors or flexible, performant and accurate measurement devices that can be applied for and integrated in almost all kind of geotechnical applications where deformation and/or temperature measurements need to be carried out.