A new photo management feature turns jobsite photos into jobsite data that is searchable in a content management system. Related Links: Viewpoint's Construction Imaging Viewpoint Reels in 4Projects While smart phones with great cameras make site documentation a cinch, it can be a challenge to manage thousands of construction photos. A new photo management feature in an enterprise content-management software update addresses the problem by turning photos into mineable data assets.The management feature allows users to tag and categorize photos by site number, employee number and user-defined tag names."Companies turn to consumer tools, like [Google's] Picasa, for photo management, but
Image Courtesy of Bentley Systems Bentley System's iPad app can capture images and file code-compliant transportation infrastructure asset reports on the go. Related Links: ASCE Infrastructure Report Card InspectTech Collector App More than two hundred million vehicles cross deficient bridges in America's 102 largest metropolitan areas every day, says the American Society of Civil Engineers' most recent report card on the nation's infrastructure. Although the ASCE gave bridges a C+ overall—better than the other infrastructure categories rated—there is still much bridge work to be done. Using data gathered from state departments of transportation across the nation, ASCE's report calls for
As managers grapple to ensure their companies use the best technology in the right ways, sometimes what really matters are the simple human aspects—interactions between technicians, designers and managers—to make sure that we all draw maximum productivity from one another.As the IT manager at the architectural and engineering firm of Paulus Sokolowski and Sartor, I have learned that there are three key areas where IT leaders and business managers must focus to ensure technology works well in the organization: -Building Trust—The technology team must build a good working relationship with their end users: engineers, designers and project managers. -Collaboration—IT and CADD leaders
Related Links: Infographic: How Biometric Security was Deployed at London's Olympic Park Tracking Gear on the Jobsite, Big and Small Big Brother? Workers React to Monitoring Georgia Tech RAPIDS Lab Imagine a world in which construction workers' daily routine includes gaining access to their jobsites only after a machine scans the unique biological makeup of their irises or the geometry of their hands. In conjunction with the biometric scan, a security-pass lanyard is used. Each security pass carries a worker's information, including all the worker's credentials, OSHA certifications, ethnicity, gender—and even their home zip code. Multiply that scenario by 9,000
Related Links: How Technology is Automating Security Scanning technology can increase safety and productivity, but worker tracking systems still raise hackles over privacy issues on the job.Many workers are used to checking into the proximity entry system of a New York City high-rise building, says Leo Labbate, general foreman at Hunter Roberts Construction. "I'm sure there is whispering here and there [about the system], but the brunt of it is over," he says.Not everyone agrees. "I consider it to be invasive," says a marine mechanic at a government installation who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. "Lines
Photo Courtesy of SK Solutions The SK Navigator was employed by the Saudi Binladen Group to coordinate tower and crawler-crane movements on the King Abdullah Financial District site in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2011. Related Links: How Technology is Automating Security SK Solutions CribMaster Wireless monitoring of tools and equipment has been a reality for over a decade. Adapted from the manufacturing world, sensor technology—such as RFID tags—keep an eye on the jobsite, from hand tools to tower cranes."Last year, we introduced PROTOid, a line of sockets and wrenches with embedded RFID tags in the tool itself," says Susan Hebrank,
Construction engineering and management is different from other scientific and management disciplines. We take advantage of proven technologies and try to turn them into cost-effective solutions in the construction field. We must devise ways of solving problems with clarity and ease, while always thinking of the practical reality of how things should be done.I’m now on the edge of proving out such a product that stands as an example of what we can expect to see in the industry in coming years. It is an automated surveying robot that provides the position of a tunnel boring machine in real time.
Image Courtesy OF Oracle Primavera Dashboard Schedulers are demanding more business-intelligence complexity and simplified dashboard views of selected project phases. Shown here is a Primavera screenshot of a dashboard. Related Links: Oracle Primavera P6 website Construction CPM Website and Presentations Critical-path method, or CPM, scheduling tools are doing so much more than managing schedules in construction these days. The project- management software platforms are gaining in sophistication and complexity—with better support for 4D building information modeling that gives project teams a more realistic view of the project. Milestones, risk analysis, business intelligence—it's all baked into CPM tools that are lightweight,
Related Links: Thing Magic “In the old days, we would hire a security guard at the door of every clean room so no one would go in,” says Osman Chao, project executive at DPR Construction, who recently adopted Trimble’s ThingMagic, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system that has replaced the guards at egress points and helped automate his site security.Before the job began, Chao was faced with securing a 900,000-sq-ft site with many work zones and four phases of building protocol in which the level of cleanliness would increase with each phase. “Cleanliness isn’t a big issue when we’re building up
Courtesy Bridges to Prosperity I look back fondly to the days when jumping on a plane was synonymous with reconnecting to silence; when transoceanic flights were absent of the buzz of emails, phones and social media’s barrage of connectivity. But when United Airlines began adding in-flight WiFi this fall, I folded. No longer do I look forward to reflective, stress-free hours. For as much as I want to keep the computer in the overhead bin, I cannot help but appreciate the opportunity for a few extra hours of access.Perhaps in-flight access will take a bit of getting used to, but