Connected Construction

Mott MacDonald to design highway improvements in Czech Republic

August 6, 2015

Mott MacDonald has been appointed by the Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic to design sections of the R35 and R55 expressways. R35 connects the Bohemia and Moravia regions and runs parallel to the D1 motorway, the longest in the country. Mott MacDonald will design a 5.8km section of the expressway, including three bridges, two interchanges, two roundabouts, four overpasses and one railway viaduct. One watercourse will also be relocated as part of the scheme.

Are drones homing in on road construction?

August 4, 2015

It may be early days for using drones – unmanned aerial systems (UAS) -- to map construction sites, but technology and legislation are moving in that direction. At the moment drones can fly within only a 500m radius of the ‘pilot’ standing on the ground, making the flight area a 1km diameter. This is the key limiting issue for any sector, especially road construction, says Jonathan Gill, a robotics engineer and a qualified drone pilot for the past seven years. The logic is that a drone remains withi

Study for new UK tunnel proposal

July 27, 2015

Engineering specialists Mouchel and Hyder team are now working jointly on a feasibility study worth €1.87 million (£1.3 million). The contract is to investigate the feasibility of the proposed Trans-Pennine tunnel. This link would connect the cities of Manchester and Sheffield. The cost of the road tunnel running is expected to be high but a new route is needed as the existing connections are nearing capacity and from an environmental perspective, taking the traffic underground would be preferential. This s

Fast repair for key Cairo road

July 14, 2015

Fast repair of Cairo’s busy urban highway has been achieved using paving equipment. And MOBA levelling technology played an important role in ensuring finish quality met requirements. Cairo is Egypt’s fast-growing capital city, with an estimated population of around 20 million living in its catchment area. The city’s fast growth rate however has placed enormous demands on its infrastructure, with transportation creaking under the strain. An increasing numbers of people use the roads in and around Cairo ev

Intermat innovation for machine control systems

June 23, 2015

Improving technologies for machine control systems continue to deliver increases in efficiency for contractors - Mike Woof writes Machine control technologies have continued to develop as the specialist suppliers in this fiercely fought sector seek to find a competitive advantage over their rivals. The key players, Leica Geosystems, MOBA, Topcon and Trimble, have all been pushing the boundaries with their latest technologies. Although the systems these firms are introducing are aimed at a number of differen

Construction adapting with Machine control Technologies

June 18, 2015

Machine control technologies are revolutionising construction – Dan Gilkes writes Electronic control of engines, transmissions and hydraulic systems, primarily to reduce exhaust emissions and boost productivity, is also providing manufacturers with an opportunity to incorporate increasingly complex machine control into their equipment. This in turn has the potential to make the machinery more productive, further cutting fuel consumption as part of a virtuous operational circle.

Trimble’s new SitePulse System empowers field managers

June 9, 2015

Trimble has launched what it claims is an affordable and easy-to-use site positioning System for superintendents, foremen and field engineers on heavy civil construction sites. Instead of using paper plans, the Trimble SitePulse System empowers field managers with the same 3D constructible model and digital information that is used by construction surveyors, grade checkers and machine operators. Trimble SitePulse field software is ideal for construction managers who do not have a surveying background. The

Optimising operations with construction software gains

May 20, 2015

Innovations in construction software are helping boost project efficiency and optimising project operations – Clive Davidson writes Over the past decade, while construction engineers have been putting up buildings or infrastructure, software engineers have been developing a parallel universe where virtual buildings or infrastructure can be created in ever increasing detail. What started with 2D architectural drawings in computer-aided design (CAD) systems, has become a multi-dimensional world, with 3D ge

The use of telematics in construction machines is growing

May 20, 2015

Demand for telematics technology is growing, as equipment users begin to lean the value of these systems – Alan Dron reports With construction projects increasingly operating to wafer-thin profit margins, any technological assistance that can keep the accounts in the black is welcome. This is particularly the case with those projects where contractors can share a larger slice of the profits if they complete their work ahead of schedule. The downside, of course, is that they also share the pain if the

Yotta upgrades asset management package

May 19, 2015

Yotta is now offering the latest version of its Horizons visualised asset management platform. Version 2.6 of the package is said to provide a better user experience with improved visualisation. The latest version of the cloud-based solution also offers improved transparency with upgraded reporting providing clear and auditable work trails. Users of Horizons 2.6 can now directly link documents and images in Horizons, improving access to detailed information about a specific asset through the use of phot