Skip Pennington, Brasfield & Gorrie Job Site in a Box is a rugged connectivity portal to get remote job sites up and running fast. Related Links: Feeney Wireless' Mobile Ready Office Williams Scotsman's Techsuite Construction companies and service providers are getting together to offer multiple solutions for instantly connecting remote job sites with all the technological trimmings needed to operate at the speed of 2013.One general contractor found a quick, ruggedized solution to wiring job sites to the internet anywhere in range of 3G or 4G cellular connection, which would free staff from having to wait for utility companies to
Courtesy Buckaplan.com Inevitably, as technology jets forward, some business models are hurt, maimed or left in the dust. One example of an industry under assault is reprographic services, which have been taking a yearly shot to the checkbook as mobile electronic plan-visualization tools get more popular by the day.To fight back, one printer decided to simplify, refocus on subcontractors, extend service boarders and, most important, get a catchy name."When the industry took a nosedive, we didn’t want to lay off people, so we made a change,” says Brian Burke, president of Buckaplan.com, a subsidiary of Universal Copy LLC, Waterbury, Conn.
Hurricane Sandy’s impact on the United States was tremendous. The nation’s most heavily populated metropolis experienced electrical power outages, critical supply chain disruptions, and intermittent transportation in the days and weeks after the storm’s landfall. Many critical operations struggled to get diesel fuel to supply their back-up generators. Some experts thought the New York metro area would be immune to such catastrophic critical infrastructure disruptions, so how could the area have mitigated Sandy’s impact? Energy microgrids could have played a part. A microgrid is a small, electric utility than can be disconnected from the larger electrical grid for stand-alone, computer-controlled,
Mobile Devices Are Key to BI in Construction Stats: Construction Industry Dead Last in IT Spend Gartner Research: Big Data Trends How to Avoid e-Discovery Disasters With Big Data Tools (subscription only) Linked Data Working Group Website Dig into the master schedule on any major construction project and you will likely find plenty of examples of big data.
Construction IT Managers Eying Microsoft Surface Pro Release Mobile Devices Are Key to BI in Construction Gartner Stats: Big Data Trends in 2012 Construction companies with less than $250 million in revenue invest about 1.6% of it on information technology, according to Gartner Research. Meanwhile, construction firms with $10 billion in revenue on average spend only 1.1% on IT. The construction industry is dead last in IT spending compared to 14 other industries measured by Gartner.
Courtesy of Trimble Trimble's new touchscreen tablet allows users to type, pan and zoom with fingers, a stylus or heavy gloves. Related Links: ENR Mountain States: Trimble HQ ENR Mountain States: Tablet Technology Trimble, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based advanced technology systems maker, saw a record 3,500 attendees from 80 countries during its sixth annual Dimensions event held Nov. 5-7 at The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The conference consisted of 480 sessions focused on increased field and office productivity through Trimble hardware and software in a variety of applications from heavy civil and building construction to mapping and surveying.Among
Courtesy Infrasense Infrasense's new GPRQA software collects data from a radar mounted on the back of a vehicle, such as this SUV. Related Links: ENR's Past GPR Coverage (10/24/05) A Time When MnDOT Did Not Use GPR Google Maps measures and maps roads, and department of transportation workers measure and map the subsurface quality of those roads. One company’s advance in computing asphalt-pavement density data on-site claims to make DOT workers’ jobs easier.“We have developed … ground-penetrating-radar [GPR] quality-assurance software that can automatically process radar data on-site,” says Kenneth Maser, president of Infrasense Inc., Arlington, Mass. “It covers the entire
A couple of years ago, one of our teams was working in an active hospital, adjacent to a neonatal intensive care unit. Like all work in sensitive areas, the crew would measure levels of dust, particles, noise and air pressure to ensure construction wasn’t posing a risk to the NICU.This is standard operating procedure, but our team saw risks. What happened in between the times when workers would take a reading? A few project team members saw their smartphones and realized they literally had the technology to change this system in their hands.At the same time, a different Skanska project
Photo courtesy of ikeGPS The ikeGPS integrates multiple tools into one package, allowing for accurate measurement and geolocation of objects from 1,000 meters away. Related Links: Engineering News-Record Architectural Record A handheld device, ikeGPS, is finding new fans in the U.S. as it performs the work of a digital compass, a camera, a laptop and a laser range-finder. Created by Surveylab, Wellington, New Zealand, it is saving utility companies hours of data collection and entry work and appears to have the potential to do even more."We're seeing a 30% reduction in time spent collecting data," says Ed Gray, director of
Elizabeth Cox walked the site of the Houston Dynamo stadium wearing new sunglasses her brother gave her. When she got back to the work trailer, she had a high-definition video of her site walk.
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