Skip to main content

Locating underground utilities accurately with Trimble

A highly advanced prototype system Trimble is working on is based on the Earthworks package and is intended to reduce the risk of contractors hitting buried utilities when carrying out digging operations. Scott Crozier is general manager of Trimble’s general construction division. He said that this mixed reality solution is an emerging technology that will be available in the near future. The package is integrated into the machine display and provides a visual reference for the operator where buried utiliti
December 11, 2018 Read time: 1 min

A highly advanced prototype system 2122 Trimble is working on is based on the Earthworks package and is intended to reduce the risk of contractors hitting buried utilities when carrying out digging operations. Scott Crozier is general manager of Trimble’s general construction division. He said that this mixed reality solution is an emerging technology that will be available in the near future. The package is integrated into the machine display and provides a visual reference for the operator where buried utilities lie. An object avoidance system that physically limits the machine from digging further to prevent hitting a utility line is slightly further away however.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Big excavators go ‘e’
    September 28, 2023
    These days, even those beasts of the construction site – excavators – have a date with sustainability, despite the huge amount of electric power needed to operate a machine that pushes about high loads of dirt.
  • Longer lasting road surfaces with advanced asphalt paving
    February 20, 2012
    Contractors face an array of sophisticated paving technologies, Mike Woof reports. Asphalt paving technology continues to advance as manufacturers develop more efficient and reliable equipment. Paving techniques are also improving, while new polymer modified bitumen materials and recycling methodologies further increase the range of road surfacing options available to the client and contractor.
  • 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
  • Low temperature asphalt and aggregate options’
    February 7, 2014
    At what point does ‘some technology’ become ‘enough technology’? Less than four years ago industry publications were filled with a persistent message, the reluctance of UK based contractors to adopt machine control to the same extent as near European neighbours, particularly close ones such as Ireland and Holland. However from 2009 onwards we have seen a huge shift in demand for machine control as the success of high profile road and rail jobs such as the M25 widening scheme and Airdrie – Bathgate rail