TAKING FLIGHT


“Working hand-in-hand with a progressive owner in a
design-build project setting where the team evolves the
design together, we are collectively pushing the boundaries of a traditional construction approach and elevating
our e昀케ciency, precision and accuracy of construction to
another level,” says Lina Stinnett, PCL’s senior manager
of Integrated Construction Technology.
The significant value found by combining accurate
location data and other critical digital information in the
construction process is still in the early stages of adoption.
Drones and GIS construction technology
Starting with the project groundbreaking, drones 昀氀ew every week
during the excavation phase for the New St. Paul’s Hospital, capturing an average of 300 site photos every week. Each 昀氀ight was able
to convert more than 1 million data points using photogrammetry.
PCL’s ICS team then applied that information to create high-resolution 3D point clouds for every inch of the two-million-square-foot
construction site.
By feeding these point clouds into Site Scan for ArcGIS—the
end-to-end, cloud-based drone mapping software from Esri—and
combining it with Building Information Modeling (BIM) for both
permanent and temporary systems, PCL was able to identify potential risks early and pivot at critical points in the construction process
to avoid expensive delays.
“While excavating this site, we needed to build a ramp to get in and
out of the excavation area. By overlaying the digital design with the
real-time excavation, we found that the ramp and crane foundation
were in the same location. Setting up the crane is the most critical activity on a construction site, so the ramp had to move,” explains Bilal
Yasir, an Integrated Construction Technology specialist with PCL.
“We shared the coordinates with the 昀椀eld team, and they started
building the ramp in its new location, away from the crane foundation. As a result of the continuous drone survey, we used this information to pivot and adjust the ramp before it caused expensive delays.”
How data drives value
This is only one of many examples where the integration of GIS
with BIM optimizes the delivery of complex large-scale projects. As
clients expect more value, quality control and transparency for their
Helping clients manage risks,
disputes, and uncertainty
Gordie Howe Bridge
Photo credit: Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority
Who we are
GWTTY IMAGES
For more than 20 years HKA has helped Canadian owners, developers,
contractors and counsel navigate pitfalls that could derail large, mission
critical infrastructure projects. Employing over 1,000 experts and
consultants worldwide, HKA’s goal is to mitigate construction problems
as early as possible, from pre-construction through delivery.
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MAY/JUNE 2024 – RENEW CANADA 19
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