Connected Construction

Integrating Caterpillar's latest machine guidance and asset management tools offers efficiency gains for contractors in a competitive market. Mike Woof reports Caterpillar has been a leader in the development of GPS machine control systems through its partnership with Trimble. The manufacturer has rolled out a series of AccuGrade packages for various machines in its line-up, starting with the dozers and graders and then spreading to other machines such as scrapers, excavators and soil compactors. Caterpilla

Birse has used two machine control systems on the A14 project in the UK, one GPS-controlled to provide excavators with a +/-30mm accuracy and a second system which used a Trimble UTS as control on a grader to achieve +/- 5mm - well within the Highway Agency's sub-base tolerance of +10/-30mm. This meant that when it came to the asphalt surface, Birse agreed a thickness and Lafarge, the blacktop contractor, let the paving machine run instead of the operators constantly making manual adjustments. At the end of

Widening the busy A4 road in Switzerland to four lanes was achieved quickly by using the latest paving technology. Increased traffic required the widening of the A4 from two to four lanes along a 20km section, with two lanes separated by a central divider in each direction. Carrying 20,000-25,000 vehicles/day, the trunk road between Winterthur and Schaffhausen was one of Switzerland's busiest two-lane stretches, and as a result, the Federal Council of Switzerland in Bern planned an enlargement of the dual-l

Leica Geosystems is broadening its surveying range with the introduction of three aluminium construction tripods. The two mid-range tripods, the CTP104 and CTP104D, can cope with tough conditions on site and are designed for use with Leica Geosystems levels, lasers and construction theodolites. Both employ quick-release clamps for fast stable setups. The high specification CET103 elevating tripod has an adjustable column with 300mm crank stroke and an additional telescope column for 660mm extension. Minimum

Fugro Aperio says it is improving the quality of road and airport runway repair techniques using its sophisticated ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology. The firm is now able to offer a combination of real time kinematic (RTK) GPS with multi channel radar systems due to partnerships with Yotta in the UK, and Pavement Management Services in Australia and the Middle East. This sophisticated package enables pre-planning of surveys, quicker execution and better positioning for more precise mapping of defect

Topcon has produced a new imaging station which, it claims, will dramatically increase productivity when used in two-man auto-tracking or single operator robotic modes. Using prism auto-tracking scanning interface technology the IS-3, when used with Topcon’s RC-4 remote control system, will track prisms up to 1,000m away.