Underground – Revealing what Lies Beneath

A new building, structure, park, road or airport are all the result of a series of construction activities. What underpins each of these are the underground utilities and services which bring them to life. Sewer, storm, water and telecommunications are vital for the operation of today’s society and like an iceberg, what happens underground often goes unseen.

Managing the unseen

Putting services in the ground starts with determining what needs to be built, the length of pipe and laterals, the number of joints and fittings, and the structures connecting them all together. That’s the easy part. Next comes determining quantities for the trench. From calculating the bedding, pipe displacement, cover and spoils required to put the pipe in the ground; through selecting the excavation method, trench type and finally calculating the material that needs to be excavated. All have a major impact on the time and cost of the total project.

When construction starts a number of new problems can bubble to the surface:

Is the exposed material and strata as expected?
Is the weather cooperative?
Are the supplies available on-site and in the right location?
Are unidentified buried surface uncovered?

All these challenges can change the original plan adding costs and time to a project.

Removing the guesswork with AGTEK’s Underground solution

Google Earth view of trench spec and site

AGTEK’s new Underground solution shines a light on what is below the surface to estimate construction quantities quickly and accurately. The new software enables construction companies to track and document project progress, provides feedback to both field and office crews. Ensuring that trenching, pipe installation and structure placement are completed efficiently.

It all starts with the takeoff of length, areas and counts of what needs to go into the ground. This information is quickly imported to Underground from both PDF or CAD data formats.

Simple routines determine the pipe elevation to compare with surface data allowing calculation and visualization of volumes against any surface. Depth Bracket reports generate the detail required for excavation volumes against strata layers. Quickly creating value engineering scenarios to act on.

Automatically calculate the bedding, cover, pipe displacement and spoils required in each trench and take the guesswork out of what is needed to get the pipe in the ground. All of this information can then be shared in intuitive reports or exported to third party systems such as HCSS and B2W and taken to the field via mobile apps for pre-bid inspections and site validation.

Ensuring site crews have what they need

Once ground is broken, pipe and trench details can be sent directly from Underground to any machine control system including Leica Geosystems, Trimble,Topcon, CAT, Komastu and John Deere. To ensure compliance with design and as-built, SmartPlan and SmartDirt mobile apps enable foremen and site crews to see trench sections directly on their phone or tablet.

As the project progresses, drone or UAV technology can be used for site documentation throughout the entire construction process to determine what is already in the ground and what still needs to be done. This data is leveraged for procurement management to ensure just in time delivery of bedding, pipe and fixtures ensuring the crew has what it needs, at the right time and in the right location.

Delivering on time and on budget

Underground is an integrated solution to help contractors win more work and complete projects on time and on budget. Backed by industry and technology experts, AGTEK provides a complete range of solutions and is with you every step of the way from takeoff to final project handover. AGTEK’s Dirt Simple Solutions are easy to use to get the job done fast and efficiently. For more information, contact us, and we are delighted to help you win more projects and deliver on time and budget.

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