Connected Construction

Bentley Systems strikes bridge monitoring deal with AASHTO

November 15, 2012

A new partnership between Bentley Systems and the American Association of Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) looks set to yield significant cost benefits for the US. This move will see AASHTO and Bentley align to extend AASHTO’s Bridge Management software with Bentley’s Inspectech package. As a result, bridge inspection processes in the US will become more efficient, more accurate and also see major budget reductions. CEO Greg Bentley said, “In the US we spend about US$1 billion/year on bridge inspec

MOBA's advanced positioning systems

November 15, 2012

MOBA Mobile Automation says it now offers excavator control systems for a range of requirements, with the introduction of its Easy Dig basic system, the LINK expansion stage and the high-end Vision 3D version. The new Easy Dig package is said to provide an affordable and easy-to-install excavator control system that measures depth, incline angle and range. Target and actual values are compared and displayed in real-time on the screen. The LINK offers a combination of 2D and 3D functions and is the most in

Power Curbers offers stringless control

November 15, 2012

Concrete slipformer manufacturer Power Curbers is now offering a stringless machine control option for its customers. Extensive tests have been carried out to ensure the system works efficiently and Power Curbers says that various customers are now using 5700-C machines that are equipped with networked digital controls on jobsites in the United States and Canada. According to the firm, the results have been good with contractors saving on set up time while achieving high accuracy when carrying kerb and gutt

Positioning tools from Topcon

November 15, 2012

Topcon is offering an array of new tools that can improve surveying and machine control capabilities for contractors. Light and compact, the B110 dual-frequency positioning receiver board features the new Vanguard ASIC system and can support 226 universal channels for GPS, GLONASS and Galileo tracking and scalable positioning. The B110 board’s small size, low power consumption and versatile communication interfaces make it easy to integrate into any precise positioning application. It features a high perfor

Bentley Systems is adding to its portfolio with more acquisitions

November 14, 2012

Software specialist Bentley Systems continues to add to its portfolio with the acquisition of the SpecWave software, on of a series of moves by the company. This follows on from its recent alliance with GPS pioneer Trimble and underlines Bentley’s strategic plan for expansion in the field of specialist software for industry. The company plans to continue along this path, having achieved notable successes and CEO Greg Bentley said, “One of our highlights in 2011 was our growth in Asia.” A key portion of the

Machine control brings accuracy to US paving job

November 2, 2012

The historic city of Raleigh in North Carolina is one of the few cities in the US that was planned and built specifically to serve as a state capital and its population and traffic volume have grown enormously in recent years An indicator of Raleigh's growth has been the need for an expanded roadway system to serve Wake County. As early as the 1970s there were plans for a Western Wake Expressway. This developed into a 112km, interstate-grade beltway, known as the Raleigh Outer Loop, which will encompass Ral

Topcon’s action station

October 31, 2012

Topcon Europe Positioning (TEP) has launched a new, professional-grade robotic total station – the PS series – which the firm says is designed to surpass the power, accuracy and capabilities of its peers. The PS is said to utilise Topcon’s new PowerTrac technology to increase the prism tracking power. “Using new optics, laser system and advanced algorithms, PowerTrac provides the PS with the ability to keep tracking a moving prism even under the toughest environmental conditions,” said Leighton Davies, surv

Laser sensors offer range of duties

October 17, 2012

Sick UK says its new LMS500 family of laser sensors achieves new levels of high-speed and consistent performance in adverse highway conditions. “The incontrovertible rule in laser measurement used to be – if you can’t see it, the laser can’t see it, but with the LMS500 this is no longer true,” said Tim Stokes, SICK UK laser sensor specialist. “These hard-working sensors ignore spray, smoke and dust and cope with rain, snow, ice and fog. They will operate reliably for applications such as vehicle spacing, sp

Macleod Simmonds introduces GPR offering

October 17, 2012

UK-based Macleod Simmonds Ltd (MSL) has launched a GPR (Ground Probing Radar) consultancy providing both a survey service and software package which, the firm says, takes the output from multi-antenna surveys to a “whole new dimension”. The firm says it can now provide survey capability for almost any type of terrain, application or location that end users might require. For the existing roadway or smooth surface terrain survey location, MSL has a Carriageway System based on a multi-antenna set up from Ital

A novel compact grading solution

October 16, 2012

One of the interesting developments at the recent Hillhead quarry show in the UK, was of a rather more compact machine than usually seen at the exhibition. A UK equipment rental firm, CLS Selfdrive, revealed a US-manufactured compact grader equipped with machine control equipment. This is of note seeing that such machine control technologies are usually fitted to much larger machines. The increasing proliferation of the systems and the reduction in costs in real terms however means that this technology is n