June 2016www.gradingandexcavation.com

Ground Engaging ToolsThe Specialized Equipment

ADTs vs. RigidChoosing a Dump Truck

Machine ControlThe New Normal

Dozer Operating Made EasyTaking out the mystery with machine control

EDITOR’S COMMENTS By Arturo Santiago

Let’s Get Started Already!

In the process of putting together this issue, we were also busy parti-cipating in Infrastructure Week. It was a national week of events from

May 16–May 23, with media coverage, education, and advocacy efforts intended to elevate infrastructure as a critical issue. Although it’s come and gone, the current state of the nation’s infrastruc-ture and the issues of how to go about fixing it all remain. I asked company executives and indus-try experts four questions on the subject of infrastructure:• Which infrastructure projects

should be given priority? Roads and bridges? Dams and levees? Water supply? Electri-cal grid?

• Is there a solution to long-term infrastructure funding?

• What kind of harm is the cur-rent state of our infrastructure doing to the economy and the community?

• What can various government entities—from local to federal—do to attract private sector support and investment?The editors of our sister publications

of Forester Media—Stormwater, Erosion Control, Water Efficiency, Business Energy, and MSW Management—asked the same four questions of their industry executives and experts. The responses across the board sounded out the urgent need to do something about the failing infrastructure.

Specifically, the first question regard-ing priorities varied among the different magazines and the corresponding indus-try experts. For example, Brant Keller, the director of public works and utilities in Griffin, GA, replied to Stormwater magazine:

“Water supply is the flavor of the month. The changes are creating havoc with several

regions in the USA and other parts of the world. Water supply and how we manage it is critical for sustainability and the way we do business in the future. Roads and bridges come in a close second, and the main issue is funding. Everyone knows we have a prob-lem when they travel the road, streets, and bridges daily.”

Answering Grading & Excavation Con-tractor, Adrien Patané, the regional man-ager of technology solutions and services at Trimble, responded to the first question with a broader, more all-encompassing perspective.

“The choice or type of project, while it should be based on today’s societal choices to improve community’s quality of life, sometimes must be shared with the urgency to rectify aging and crumbling infrastruc-tures that take over investment priority.”

As for the third question, the one about the harm the current state of the infrastructure is doing to the economy and the community . . . there seemed to be widespread consensus and focus on our roads and bridges.

Gordon England, a civil engineer and stormwater consultant in Cocoa Beach, FL, submitted this answer to Stormwater magazine:

“When roads and bridges are over-loaded, costs increase for delays in trans-portation, which are reflected in every item bought in stores. When there are failures

such as Katrina or I-95 shut-ting down in South Carolina, costs to society are massive for reconstruction.”

Although some, such as Laurent Vernerey, the president and CEO of Schneider Electric, spoke within the boundaries of her industry when answering Business Energy’s questionnaire:

“There are too many con-straints on our existing networks. Our aging infrastructure is lim-ited. Generation capacity is lim-ited. Network extension is limited. It’s difficult to integrate intermit-tent and distributed generation sources like wind and solar power. We need new solutions to solve the energy equation.

Most importantly, the cost of outages, leaks, and breaks—any downtime caused by the state of our infrastructure—to residents, businesses, industrials, and the government can have lasting effects.”

All of the responses to all of Forester Media’s magazines infrastructure ques-tions can be found on our website at http://bit.ly/FNIW2016. You can even join the discussion and let us know your responses to the same questions.

One thing is certain: ALL of the experts and executives who took the time to respond to our questions did so with passion, purpose, insight, and a sense of hope. Infrastructure weighs heavy in their thoughts. They’re ready—we’re all ready—to get to work.

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Mike Bowman, president of M & C Excavating in Fountaintown, IN, has used machine control technology in his business for some time.

“If you’re going to be competitive, you will have to get into this,” he says. “I don’t think

you’re going to have a choice. It’s a big player on efficiency, and how we make money is with our efficiency.”

Acknowledging the upfront investment can be daunting for a contractor, points out Bowman. His company is a small commercial excavation firm with 10 employees who do earth-moving work for storm, sanitary sewer, and water lines using Caterpillar equipment.

Yet, three of the company’s four dozers are running on machine control. Bowman recently purchased the company’s first machine control-equipped excavator. The company also has GPS and machine control on one of its tractors and pull pan.

Bowman’s decision to use machine control wasn’t much of a leap in faith, having spent 13 years as an automation electri-cian at a large factory. “I was very comfortable with automa-tion from a knowledge standpoint, so when I got into excava-tion, I read an article about how the technology was evolving,” he says. “I stayed on top of what technology was coming out. As I was upgrading my equipment, I made sure the upgrades included the control valves on the dozers to accommodate machine control.”

At first, Bowman purchased a used system. “I didn’t have the massive out-of-pocket expense that I think scares people,” he says. “They’re scared they have to spend $80,000 to set up one machine. You do it a little at a time and prepare for it as you’re upgrading equipment. My first expenditure was only $26,000 to get started with my first system.”

Soon, Bowman saw the quick payback and efficiencies it

Machine Control: The New NormalTo be competitive with other contractors, machine control is a solid choice. BY CAROL BRZOZOWSKI

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offered. He has continued to incorporate additional technology to his company’s fleet, noting “it’s been a really big success for my company.

“What used to take a week to do sometimes we can accomplish in one day,” says Bowman. “If we’re trimming a parking lot and we can get stone to come in the same day, we can trim and put stone down.

“Before, we were constantly pulling strings, checking grade, and going over it. You have to have a surveyor stake it as you’re getting ready. If the weather catches you before you get done, you have to wait on the weather. Now once we calibrate a site and know where we’re at grade-wise with the model we have, we can cut it and stone it back to back, even the same day.”

Machine control also offers him a competitive edge, points out Bowman. “When a new customer finds out I’m run-ning GPS, it’s interesting to them,” he says. “Their thinking is ‘if he has put all of this time and money into this technology, he obviously knows what he’s doing.’”

There is an array of technology and software from which to choose.

Topcon Positioning Systems has intro-duced the 3D-MCMAX bulldozer system for GNSS machine control. “This Inertial Measurement Unit sensor system uses state-of-the art sensors that have gyro-scopes and accelerometers to measure movement of the cutting blade,” says Dave Thomas, manager of construction channel marketing for Topcon Positioning Systems. “This eliminates the need for a 6-foot mast with GPS antenna on the cut-ting blade to establish position.”

The new system is designed to improve safety by eliminating the mast on the blade and significantly increase grad-ing performance at high operating speeds and when operating on tight turns and steep slopes, he adds.

Data Pro creates three-dimensional (3D) data for automated machine guid-ance (AMG) equipment for construction, getting it from design to the field for all of the various pieces of equipment found on a construction site.

The company also provides consulta-tion services for contractors to help them in the technology’s implementation so as to leverage its productivity, says Bruce Flora, Data Pro president, who also serves as a certified Trimble trainer for heavy

construction software.Flora points out the majority of

today’s designs are geared toward two-dimensional (2D) paper prints. “Even though a lot of design is designed in three dimensions, the deliverables of the prod-uct we get in the field is pretty much two-dimensional with maybe some CAD data behind it,” he says.

Data Pro’s technology transforms a 2D plan which may include CAD data into a 3D model that includes drainage flows, inlet elevations, percentages, and road geometry, among other factors. “We mas-sage it to be compatible with machine con-trol,” says Flora, adding that the machines will only be as accurate as the data that controls it and that designs normally aren’t

made to the accuracy that is provided by AMG, fueled by such software.

In addition to accuracy, there are benefits such as safety and liability to be gained through AMG, notes Flora, noting that the waste industry—especially in the private sector—embraces such technolo-gies for cost avoidance.

Case in point: real-time certification for landfill cell construction. “We have devel-oped techniques using the technology via the 3D and GPS that we can [use to] cer-tify if a landfill is built properly real-time in the field to increase the productivity of the field work—and if it’s not certified, we can tell them in real time what to fix,” he says. “If it is certified, we store it and it goes right into the as-builts.”

Flora points out that properly utilized machine control eliminates rework, and increases productivity and efficiency through reduced costs in fuel, labor, and

overall job costs. “It’s a green technology,” he adds.

Increased safety is another benefit. “It takes people off of the ground,” says Flora. “The operator is using a computer to help him do his job and you don’t have people on the ground putting in stakes and pulling string line. You can put pipes in and grade them without people measuring down in the trench.”

Proper training is critical for compa-nies to derive the full range of machine control benefits, points out Flora.

Flora cites two aspects that ensure the success of its proper use. “First is creating the 3D data accurate for what you’re try-ing to achieve in the field,” he says. “The machine will build it wrong very accu-

rately. ‘Garbage in, garbage out’ is the old phrase we used to use in the com-puter world.”

The second aspect is horizontal and vertical control. “The problem we have nowadays is there is an original surveyor or somebody who comes out and does an exiting conditions plan, making a map of what is there,” says Flora. “That goes to the design engineer. That same horizontal and vertical control should now move to the field for the contractor to build with. The original surveyor, who is setting up the original control for design, is going to be concerned about geospatial.

“When it comes through design ready for construction, the construction sur-veyor is more concerned with project control—the control that was set on the ground is what he’s tying into. How it was geospatially arrived at is none of his concern. We get a lot of people now try-

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ing to come in and use geospatial during construction and we’re getting conflicts.”

The ongoing adjustment of geospa-tial data contributes to that challenge. “They’ve probably adjusted it five times in the last 10 years,” says Flora, adding that if a job had been designed a few years ago and a contractor tried to utilize geospacing today, there is a chance the location would be different. “We’ve had a lot of conflicts there. Nobody is build-ing anything wrong. They’re just different than what the design said.”

Trimble recently released additions to its machine control portfolio to target a wider group of contractors, notes Jeff Drake, business area manager for Trimble machine control systems.

For earthmoving contractors, the Trimble GCS900 grade control system for dozers, motor graders, and excava-tors has design surfaces, grades, and alignments inside the cab. The GCS900 version 12.7 features GradeMax Plus, a new technology designed to increase the overall performance of dozers by allow-ing the operator to grade faster and more consistently with tighter accuracy.

The system uses the Trimble GS420 Inertial Measurement Unit sensor to detect the current rate of acceleration and changes in orientation. Trimble also has increased the rate at which the GCS900 system drives the valves on the dozer for smoother, more consistent control and rapid recovery of the dozer blade “so operators can grade higher quality sur-faces at even faster speeds,” says Drake.

GradeMax Plus enables operators to grade a wider range of complex sur-

faces without constraints. “For example, operators have the freedom to rotate the dozer blade during operation on steep slopes while maintaining constant grading speeds,” says Drake.

The Trimble CCS900 Compaction Control System for soil compactors with wireless data share provides machine-to-machine communication that gives opera-tors the ability to share mapping data between compactors on the same site in real time so they know which areas have been compacted and which still need to be completed, says Drake.

“Additionally, new layer management functionality allows operators to view the layers or lifts other compactors are work-ing on,” he says. “The real-time display

of this information in the cab enables the operator to achieve more consistent com-paction while also reducing the amount of under- and over-compacted areas. This not only improves surface quality, but can also save time and fuel.”

The mapping information is synchro-nized back to the office for progress monitoring, compaction documentation, and reporting, using Trimble’s VisionLink asset management and project monitoring software.

Trimble recently expanded its paving portfolio to include a slipform concrete paving machine control solution, the Trimble PCS900 Paving Control System for Guntert & Zimmerman and GOMACO placer/spreader machines.

The system is designed to further automate the slipform paving train by allowing contractors to use GNSS-based positioning in conjunction with a base

station to steer the machine and con-trol its elevation according to the 3D model, says Drake. “This can significantly improve paving productivity and reduce material waste on concrete road and air-port surfaces,” he adds.

For small contracting operations, Trim-ble recently added a dual GNSS solution for compact machines such as skid-steer loaders. The Trimble GCS900 3D Grade Control System for Bobcat HD grader attachments is designed to enable small contracting operations to work faster and more effectively on complex projects requiring digital designs and 3D machine control.

“Large contracting operations also can benefit by using 3D machine control to complete the finish phase of projects more affordably and accurately with their Bobcat machines,” says Drake. “Using digital 3D models prepared in Trimble’s Business Center–HCE office software, the Trimble GCS900 system is ideal for foot-paths, parking lots, and sidewalks.”

As part of Trimble’s Connected Site solutions, the system includes the ability to wirelessly sync files to the machine, track assets and site productivity, and receive remote support or training, says Drake.

The Trimble GCS900 3D system is available as an upgrade from the 2D laser-guided and sonic/slope systems already offered by Bobcat. The Trimble GCS900 3D Grade Control System for ATI Level Best Grading Boxes is designed to allow small contracting operations to work more quickly and efficiently on complex projects requiring 3D machine control and digital designs, says Drake.

“3D machine control on skid-steer loaders can also benefit large contracting companies by allowing them to complete the finish phase of projects with added precision and at a lower cost,” says Drake. “The Trimble GCS900 system is perfect for footpaths, parking lots, side-walks and other surfaces that require a 3D-constructable model, which can be built in Trimble’s Business Center–HCE office software.”

Additionally, the system is part of the Trimble Connected Site solutions portfolio so contractors can wirelessly sync files to the machine, track assets and site produc-tivity, and receive remote support or train-ing, he adds.

Drake says Trimble has made con-nectivity standard and included with its

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machine control products. A six-month subscription for high data rate com-munications and access to the company’s cloud-based collaboration platform with its VisionLink telematics is included with the purchase of a machine control system.

Drake points out that SITECH distribu-tion and end users are increasingly using remote connectivity on and off the job site to streamline processes such as sending and receiving 3D digital designs, produc-tion data, and remote support tools. “It also allows contactors to use the system off of Trimble VRS Now networks and other local Internet base station services, reduc-ing the need for fixed GNSS infrastructure on their job sites,” he adds.

Caterpillar’s latest offering in GPS laser machine control is Grade with Assist on the company’s 323F excavator, a hardware and software addition which adds semi-automatic control to its current Grade 2D offering.

“This will control the boom and the bucket as the operator controls the stick function and it maintains the bucket teeth on grade,” notes Scott Hagemann, Machine Control & Guidance Application Specialist for Caterpillar, adding that it will also work with GPS if the customer wants to work a 3D design.

Carlson Software will soon release a new Office Software platform, with the application moving to a flexible Web-based platform, notes Tim Jones, director of machine control.

To what extent machine control has penetrated the market depends on geog-raphy. “The construction industry as a whole is dramatically under-penetrated,” says Drake of the role of machine con-trol. Globally, market indicators suggest machine control penetration rates are less than 20%, he adds.

“Trimble is addressing this by estab-lishing a global SITECH distribution network,” says Drake. “SITECH dealers are construction technology profession-als with the expertise to help contractors purchase and get training and support using Trimble machine control technology and other solutions focused on providing value at all points in the contractor’s con-struction continuum.”

On the other hand, Bowman says the use of machine control is common in the Indiana region in which his company does business with Caterpillar machines.

Hagemann echoes that, noting a posi-

tive penetration of machine control in mar-kets where contractors possess models for which CAT offers technology from the fac-tory, adding that technology is a “standard conversation” with most contractors now.

“Contractors have been very pleased with the integrated systems,” he says. “After operating, they are always asking for more models. Some of our dealers are standardizing on the factory technology solutions when they order machines due to contractors’ demands. For the contrac-tors’ current machines, we have SITECH dealers who can supply an aftermarket solution.”

There are many driving factors for the adoption of machine control.

Project developers are increasingly requiring technology on machines, help-ing to drive adoption of the technologies, says Hagemann.

Competition is the driving factor for AMG adoption, says Flora. “There are certain areas where contractors are put-ting their arms around this and grasping it because all of a sudden people are finding themselves in a position where it’s hard to compete,” he says. “Machine control is allowing them to do more with less. It’s also allowing for some efficiencies for the contractors who want to move forward.”

“As the next generation of machine operators continues to become less special-ized and there are fewer 20-year opera-tors, modern contractors are seeing the necessity of utilizing machine control sys-tems,” points out Thomas. “However these contractors and owners who have adopted machine control are finding that even their seasoned operators can even double their

productivity by using blade automation.”Flora agrees that AMG is providing

a solution for the challenge grading and excavation contracting companies have finding skilled employees willing to work in the construction industry, says Flora.

AMG could be a selling factor for young adults who gravitate toward using technology in their jobs, he adds.

“We’ve seen where some of the younger kids don’t want to go to a full four-year college and become a politi-cal science major,” says Flora. “They like doing something with their hands, and using their head, and with technology in construction now, that is there for them.

“We’re getting a lot of older guys fight-ing the technology, and getting a lot of the younger people coming in just pushing buttons and don’t really have the experi-ence or wisdom you can only get by work-ing in the industry for so many years,” says Flora, adding that having both types of employees on hand and leveraging their strengths creates an optimal workforce.

Flora says he believes the day is com-ing when every contractor will have machine control in the construction equip-ment. One of his areas of specialty is land-fills for waste operations such as Waste Management and Republic Services.

“They demand machine control on their sites,” notes Flora. “They won’t even let the traditional, conventional contrac-tor bid anymore because they want the efficiencies of machine control and the technology it can bring.

Flora also specializes in the heavy highway sector, making data and train-ing for heavy highway equipment. “I’m

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running into the same thing there where I’m working with contractors who are really concerned about efficiencies in the future and are embracing this all the way whereas the public agencies are not,” he says.

In terms of the driving factors lead-ing contractors to employ the latest technologies, Drake notes that “since the inception of GNSS-based machine con-trol 20 years ago, we’ve seen a dramatic transition from early adopter contractors who purchased technology because they thought it would give them an edge over their competitors to an increasing number of contractors in the early majority that require GNSS-based machine control because it is more standardized in their local markets.”

It’s the “new normal,” notes Drake. “They need it to continue to win proj-ects or bid on projects that now have machine control technology called out in the bid specifications. In this case, machine control growth has increased due to an increasing awareness of project owners and government agencies requir-ing the use of machine control technolo-gies because the efficiency, productivity increases, and reduction—and in some cases elimination of—project waste in lean construction is now accepted.”

Yet, there still seems to be barriers to widespread adoption of machine control. The age of the machines is one such bar-rier, says Hagemann.

“The newer models of Cat machines have the more technology-advanced func-tions,” he says. “The machines with EH controls, displays that have more process-ing power, and sensors that are standard on the machine have helped contractors overcome barriers. We have leveraged these components and we have also helped drive the requirements for the new machines.”

Financial concerns are another barrier. “A lot has to do with the economy and risks and uncertainties of running a busi-ness,” says Flora. “Nobody wants to dive in financially with the uncertainties that we in business today have.”

Jones concurs that the biggest barrier to contractors using machine control tech-nology is the justification of the capital to ensure they are getting payback from their investment.

Drake agrees. “An initial purchase of 3D GNSS-based machine control systems,

supporting job site infrastructure, and office software can be seen to be expen-sive in the eyes of a contractor new to the technology,” he points out.

Acknowledging that cost concerns are a significant barrier to contractors using machine control, Thomas notes that “it gets obliterated by contractors new to this type of tech when they are able to double production and recoup the system costs after one six-month job or even less.

“They then own the system and, with a Topcon system, are able to move that control box to other machines or even move between dozer and graders,” he adds. “Also, if they’re renting their machines, they can also take it with them and install on future rentals.”

Another barrier is resistance to chang-ing the way work is done. “Machine control requires changes to be made to the process in which construction is per-formed when machine control is used,” says Drake.

Public policy may be underscoring that resistance to change, notes Flora. “Somebody has to some way, somehow get up to a higher level for the policy-makers to open their eyes that this tech-nology is here to stay and the benefits are there,” he says. “They’re going to have to get the policymakers to put it in the policy that 3D is what’s going to be deliv-ered for construction from now on.

“The way the engineering community and public sector works is once they are done with their design, they’re onto the next job. What we’re trying to tell them is it’s not really done until we design it, construct it, and start using it, and the data should go all the way through the life cycle.”

That life cycle starts with 3D, which is the design and machine control; moves through to 4D, which is scheduling; and then to 5D, which is taking scheduling, costs, and maintenance and moving it through the life cycle, says Flora.

The resistance could be changing in favor of automation.

Flora conducts workshops for the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), which he indicates is trying to advocate automation through its EDC3 (Every Day Counts) initiative.

FHWA calls it e-Construction, a paper-less construction administration delivery process that includes electronic submis-sion of all construction documentation

by all stakeholders, electronic document routing/approvals (e-signatures), and digi-tal management of all construction docu-mentation in a secure environment allow-ing distribution to all project stakeholders through mobile devices.

A paper-based system that requires significant time and money to create through conventional postal delivery, project journals, note-taking, stamped plan sets, design and construction submittals, and physical signatures on multiple copies of many documents is becoming obsolete, notes the FHWA.

Its initiative “aims to employ established technologies that are readily available to the transportation community, such as digi-tal electronic signatures, electronic commu-nication, secure file sharing, version con-trol, mobile devices, and Web-hosted data archival and retrieval systems to improve construction documentation management,” according to the FHWA website.

Drake cites two additional factors that have served as the biggest barriers for contractors to get the technologies into their machines.

One is the awareness of the benefits and capabilities of the technology, he says, adding that many contactors have not been informed of or visited by profession-als who are experts in the technology.

Another is not having personnel on staff who can assist with the technology deployment and management. “There is a perception by new users that technology experts are required to be on the contrac-tor’s staff in order to use the technol-ogy,” says Drake, adding that Trimble’s SITECH network of global construction technology consultants and distributors was established to address that.

Thomas points out that one of the larg-est barriers to adopting machine control is “an aversion to new technologies by more traditional operators. However, with even the most stern technology holdouts, we’re noticing a huge momentum shift over just the past few years. With wide-scale adop-tion of the iPhone and other common technologies like tablets, smart watches, and even thermostats, everybody is start-ing to trust technology more.”

Carol Brzozowski specializes in topics related to technology and construction.

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