TAKING FLIGHT

TECHNOLOGY
investment, PCL is responding by leveraging advanced technologies
to help meet and exceed expectations.
“While excavating the site, we found some giant boulders as big
as an F150 truck,” says Yasir. “We marked all these boulders in Site
Scan to see them in site context. Using this data, we were able to re昀椀ne the scope of work anticipated by the contractor hired to remove
the boulders, saving the project close to $25,000 and avoiding any
disputes over the scope of work.”
And when it came time to coordinate the arrival and placement
of 520 concrete trucks to pour concrete in a 13-hour period, drone
footage from the job site helped optimize the ideal site access and
concrete pump locations using Site Scan. The result facilitated a
streamlined operation with 520 trucks arriving to site at roughly
75-second intervals and successfully pouring approximately 4,580
cubic meters (150,000 cubic feet) of concrete over a continuous 13hour period.
Since introducing drones into the 昀椀eld, PCL has reduced its cost of
site inspections by up to 80% compared to using traditional 3D laser
scans. Drones are being used at multiple phases throughout projects, as a single 昀氀ight is su昀케cient to ensure quality requirements are
being maintained; compared to the previous approach of sending a
worker to manually walk through the site and document progress.
In the case of the New St. Paul’s Hospital, drones analyzed every
square inch of the concrete retaining walls, ultimately identifying
out of tolerance areas for recti昀椀cation before they impacted the next
stage of construction.
Replacing binders of building information
The use of these innovative technologies doesn’t end when the
project is 昀椀nished.
“I can remember spending many late nights putting
operations and maintenance binders like this one together, often
delivering them months after construction was completed,”
says Aaron Akehurst, PCL’s project manager, Integrated
Construction Services for the B.C. Region.
“At PCL we are working with clients to provide a more
meaningful digital handover that pulls design, construction,
and commissioning data through to operations. These
progressive owners are empowering their facilities maintenance
teams with data, leveraging BIM to create GIS indoor
opportunities, and ultimately setting the foundation for cityscale digital twins.”
The signi昀椀cant value found by combining accurate location
data and other critical digital information in the construction
process is still in the early stages of adoption. However, projects
like the New St. Paul’s Hospital are showcasing exactly what
is possible when clients, architects and builders all come to the
table with a plan to 昀椀nd e昀케ciencies and optimize every phase of
the construction process. Leveraging advanced GIS technologies
such as Site Scan and integrating the data collected with BIM
means that project planning, quality, safety and risk management
are signi昀椀cantly enhanced and accelerated—ultimately driving
greater value to clients and their bottom line.
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