Background: Modifications and repairs to offshore

platforms are among some of the

most difficult and financially risky

industrial projects to execute. Extreme

remoteness, significant congestion,

and inaccessibility have historically

resulted in some of the highest

percent cost overruns in the

business. In this industry it is not

uncommon for budget overruns due

to rework to be easily in the range of

20% to 30% of the Total Installed

Cost (TIC) - meaning that the $2.3

Million (TIC) Tyonek upgrade project

would have potentially faced a

$690,000 budget overrun.

As is generally the case with existing

industrial facilities, onshore or off-

shore, accurate or up-to-date as-built

drawings were not available.

Therefore, the VECO Alaska design

team turned to their in-house 3D

High-Definition Survey (HDS) group to

accurately and completely capture the

existing environment.

The engineering and construction

scope included the following

equipment upgrades with associated

piping and services: 1) two

production separators, 2) two

coalescing filters, and 3) a cartridge

filter. In order to optimize engineer-

ing and design, Leica CloudWorx for

AutoCAD and Bentley AutoPLANT

software were to be used.

VECO, headquartered in Anchorage,

Alaska, USA, is a multinational, full

service EPC providing process design,

engineering, and construction

services. With over 25 years oil &

gas experience, VECO, Anchorage,

primarily supports Alaska's North

Slope. VECO, Anchorage, currently

owns a Leica HDS3000 scanner and

companion Cyclone software. The

office provides in-house services for

its engineering and construction

teams and outside surveying and

scanning services for plants and

other engineering companies.

ScopeTyonek offshore platform production separators,

coalescing, and cartridge filter retrofit project

CustomerConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc./VECO Alaska, Inc.

DateSeptembermber 2005

Project SummaryField

6 days; 2-person crew; 73 high-resolution

Leica HDS2500 scans

Office

22 days, 1 person

Deliverable

Registered scans for design team use with

Leica CloudWorx for AutoCAD;

selective 3D As-built Bentley AutoPLANT model

2005 Bentley BE Project Award Winner

Benefits:• Discovered and corrected critical equipment

installation problems during design

• Project 19.1% under budget

• 26% reduction in site trips

• Less than 1% of TIC rework as compared to

Industry average of 20% to 30%

• Established new “VECO Safety Through

Design Program” using HDS technology

• Optimized Engineering yields better

overall design

• On-time shut-down and start-up

Technology Note“The use of HDS3000 would

have doubled our site data

capture efficiency and performance”

Mark Christenson - VECO Alaska, Inc.

Leica Geosystems TruStoryVECO Tyonek Platform Upgrade Project

This photo is copyright of ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. and cannot be releasedor published without the express written consent of ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc.© Conoco Phillips Alaska, Inc.

"The use of laser scanning and the associated

3D modeling tools on this offshore modification

project saved us significant time and direct

costs. Such techniques for this type of work

are becoming a standard procedure.”

Bart Neighbors, PE, PMP - Project Leader

ConocoPhillips Alaska Capital Projects

Technology Program

Leica Geosystems AGHeerbrugg, Switzerland

www.leica-geosystems.com/hds

Project Workflow:Data Collection & Registration:To support early engineering needs

and meet the aggressive project

schedule, a 2-person laser

scanning team led by Mark

Christenson, VECO Design

Technologies Manager, worked for

6 days, and collected 73 high-

resolution scans using their

HDS2500 scanner. Mark would later

note that the full dome capability

of the HDS3000 system, which they

currently own, would have surely

doubled their data capture

production. Target-based scan

registration, performed using Cyclone

REGISTER, was tied to the survey

control network on the platform. In

addition, Leica's Cloud-to-Cloud

registration technology was used to

accurately register any scans without

targets to adjacent, overlapping

registered scans. The overall

registration process was completed

and verified in 16 hours.

Optimized Engineering:The design team used Leica

CloudWorx for AutoCAD to

visualize and work with the

registered point cloud within

Bentley AutoPLANT 3D plant

design software. This enabled the

engineers to visualize and take

detailed measurements of the

existing remote facility entirely

within their 3D design environ-

ment but without having to travel

to the platform. Moreover, the

team was able to confidently

validate new design concepts;

model existing components, where

necessary; verify design

constructability and operational

adequacy; and, validate that the

proposed modification was

interference-free - all right from

the office without having to revisit

the remote site.

Fabrication and ConstructionBenefits Realized:A few of the benefits realized by

fabrication and construction:

1. New equipment was verified against

the point cloud for construction

feasibility and for assuring

interference-free installation.

2. Prior to equipment fabrication,

necessary changes were incor-

porated based on an installation

feasibility study that utilized HDS

information.

3. All spool pieces were fabricated

on shore

4. Rework cost at field fit-up and

installation was reduced to less

than 1% - substantially below

the industry average of 20-30%

and the project's budget

5. Post construction - ability to

rescan area and produce

accurate as-built drawings

“HDS now gives us the ability to quickly

collect accurate and detailed real-world

information that seamlessly integrates with

our 3D design systems, and in turn reduces

countless hours of field work and

construction rework due to inaccurate

information.

Mark Christenson - Design Technologies Manager,VECO Alaska, Inc.

Illustrations, descriptions and technical specificationsare not binding and may change. Printed in Switzerland.Copyright© Leica Geosystems AG, Heerbrugg,Switzerland, 2006.754092en – VI.06 – RVA

(conventional) (with HDS)