The codes and specs need to be reviewed so that they meet changing needs

Roshan Purohit,
Regional Sales Manager  SAARC,
Trimble

To effectively use digital construction processes, we will need to improve collaboration between processes and stakeholders.

How do you assess the scope and potential for digitalizing road construction? What contributory role Trimble has been playing in this area?

As the global leader in advanced technology solutions in linear infrastructure projects, we are excited by the opportunities the Indian market presents. Our goal is to play a key role in the transformation of the Indian civil engineering and construction industry as it evolves to compete more effectively and profitably, execute iconic projects that showcase India's prowess and create more value for all key stakeholders.

Due to the Prime Minister's pursuit of reaching a five trillion dollar economy in five years, the government of India has given a massive mandate to infrastructure by allocating about USD 1.4 trillion for infrastructure to be invested by 2025. Also, over the last few years the Indian government is pursuing a per day road construction target of 40+ km/day. Because of this, we expect to see a lot of green field expressway projects and highway upgrade projects being awarded with tight timelines for completion and within tight budgets. This presents huge opportunities for digitizing road construction projects.

With an innovative, holistic range of technology solutions for every phase of a linear infrastructure project, Trimble is well-positioned to provide owners, engineers, and contractors the confidence to get the job done right - on time and under budget.

Brief us on the innovative contributions from Trimble in revolutionising road construction through innovative digital platforms in its various product lines site preparation and for equipment & machinery for road construction? 

The construction industry has changed a lot over the last few decades, with new processes, new technologies, and new ways of working. Trimble has been at the forefront of these changes, from the first construction laser and machine guidance system that enabled contractors to stop eyeballing grade between stakes, to being able to reference grade from the laser. Trimble was also among the first to develop automatic controls, where the blade automatically drives to the correct elevation. These were great for planar type surfaces, including leveling and sloping.

To handle more complex surfaces, Trimble was the first to release a 3D Grade Control System for Construction (Trimble SiteVision Dozer, 1999), and followed on the ability to automatically control the blade to these 3D design surfaces. This was revolutionary, and over time became expected as contractors saw significant productivity gains and reduction of costs. Today, nearly 100% of all 3D dozer grade control systems sold have blade automatics.

The advancement of technology has changed workflows so contractors can do more with smaller machines, and technology allowing task changing for machines means a task previously completed by a grader can now be performed by a dozer. Trimble was the first aftermarket provider to automatically control the boom and bucket of an excavator, and here, too, we see examples of excavators doing side slope work on roading jobs where they no longer need a dozer or a grader to fine grade the surface after the excavator has cut the slope. This enables contractors to do more with the equipment they have.

Over this time, we have seen machine manufactures make machines more suitable for grade control systems, for example designing valves with less latency and faster response times to support automatic blade control. It is now also easier than ever to buy a system fully equipped and ready for machine control and guidance from the factory, with Trimble leading the way through a joint venture with Caterpillar and enabling multiple OEMs to offer Trimble-based solutions from the factory.

Today's solutions from Trimble continue to be at the forefront, with a key focus on operator assistance to drive confidence for contractors in all phases of construction, from machine operation to planning, design, scheduling and building, by offering key tools and solutions so the flow of data can pass through all phases of the job.

Could you brief us on some of the solutions offered and its advantages? 

Dozers: Horizontal Steering Control allows the operator to focus on the grade and machine productivity rather than worrying about steering, reducing operator fatigue and errors. It enables the machine to follow the horizontal guidance from the 3D model, providing operators with increased awareness of their surroundings, better accuracy and improved productivity with decreased overlap and fewer passes.

Dual GNSS Blade Mount configurations for older T3 and T4i machines to increase the coverage of supported dozer models.

Mastless Motor Grader: Trimble Earthworks for motor graders mastless configuration mounts one GNSS receiver on the cab and one on the gooseneck of the machine to eliminate masts and cables traditionally located on the blade. Mastless GNSS receivers are ideal for the blade's maximum range of motion, which is needed for steep slope work and complex designs with tight tolerances. The new configuration enables contractors to decrease risk of damage to the machine, keep valuable receivers safer as well as reduce the time needed to remove and reinstall them each day. These are available on select Caterpillar graders.

Augmented Reality for Excavators: Augmented Reality was first released in the Trimble SiteVision™ system and is now available on excavators with Trimble Earthworks. Using a camera mounted on the outside of the machine, operators can view 3D models in a real-world environment at a true-life scale, in the context of existing surroundings. On the Trimble Earthworks display, the model is overlaid onto the existing ground giving the operator a better understanding of the work that needs to be done. Visibility of the bucket gives operators better situational awareness to be able to keep surrounding people and objects safe.

Common Design Format with Site Works: Trimble Earthworks has improved its VCL format support, now with a common file format with Trimble SiteWorks, where the office staff can build one design and leverage it both on and off the machine. Operators in the Earthworks system can turn on and off layers and linework to suit the needs of the machine, while this additional value is available for the field staff using SiteWorks.

Trimble Earthworks has also improved point management with the ability to create work orders to manage recorded points on the machine.

What are the major challenges in adopting such advanced IoT / embedded sensor based technologies in the design and construction of roads? 

One of the biggest challenges arises when various contractors from different phases of the construction process - designers, planners, engineers, surveyors and ground crews are not aligned using the same constructible model. This creates challenges and results in lost time recreating models by the surveyors needed for machine control. For example designers create 3D models, but when it comes time to site works and construction of the road, a lot of the time contractors go back to paper plans. Often, surveyors need to re-create the models again, even though they originated as 3D plans initially. This can also lead to errors, which can lead to more rework and delays in the project.

Often, process changes cause the most challenges when it comes to getting full utilisation out of technology. In many cases, roles and entire steps in the manual process no longer exist in the digital construction process. The people performing those roles need to be trained on the new technologies and processes. Once they are open to change and training they will never look back.

How supportive are the existing codes and specs in the adoption of such advanced technologies?

At the moment, most construction processes are handled in silos. To effectively use digital construction processes, we will need to improve collaboration between processes and stakeholders. This is important to meet quality, speed and budget goals. The codes and specs need to be reviewed to ensure that they meet changing needs and drive the collaboration between different stages of construction, and between different machines. Compaction, for example, is a very important process with technologies available specifically to ensure compaction happens as per desired specifications and guidelines. It is important not only to provide guidance to the operator, but also to measure and record as it happens for quality assurance and quality control by engineers.

What is the current status of the road sector and how do you foresee the future trends in road construction?

Construction of national highways in India has gathered tremendous pace over the last few years to a record average of about 32 kms per day. If we look at the plan to award projects with the goal of achieving a construction target of 40km per day, we will see a significant jump in highway construction. This, coupled with the government of India's commitment to spend USD1.4 trillion in infrastructure, presents a very strong growth story in India. We are excited by the opportunities this market presents to us.

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