Landfill GPS Management Systems by Randy Noland: Business Case & Payback Points - For years, most landfill operators have tracked densities and compaction of waste by using aerial topography (fly overs) and ground surveys (topo’s.) While these methods can help track and improve a landfill’s performance, they can also be expensive, labor-intensive and ...

The Bottom Line by Paul Hahn: Reflectorless Total Stations & Their Applications - Last month I wrote about modern layout techniques and focused on field controllers and application programs that enhance and speed up construction layout: This time I want to address a recent advancement in total station technology: the reflectorless measuring technique …

It's All About the Data by Marco Cecala: Software Review: 3D Data and AutoCAD  - After my review of Carlson Construction 2010 for building data last month, I got a bunch of emails that asked this same basic question; why do I need to buy an add on program to AutoCAD, can’t I build data with AutoCAD? The answer is yes…sort of. Read on. We need to look at the …

Machine Control & the Land Surveyor by Jay Jones: Managing Your Grade and Your Project - I have noted many times in past articles the advantages of using machine control on a project over traditional survey and construction layout methods for grading a project site. I don’t believe you can reasonably argue the fact that machine control, when properly utilized, will ...

Data Prep: Tips, Tricks & Techniques by Chad Cooper: Highway Data Building – Don’t Mess This Part Up!  - No seriously, don't mess this part up. Every data project has some critical factor that has to be right. If not, there can be significant down stream issues for the entire project. Other times, if an error is introduced into a component of your model it will only ...

Machine Guidance Systems by Nigel Adams: New Year and New Direction Brining New Opportunities for Excavator and Landfill Systems– Well here we are, the holidays are over and it’s a brand new year, time to get serious so let’s get the formalities out of the way first – I wish a happy and prosperous New Year to you all. As with the start of any year, we are full of ...

3D Modeling 101: Surface Models by Ron Ciccarone, LS: – Have you ever sat in a meeting where 50% of the words uttered were acronyms? At a presentation on 3D Models, the following was stated, "the 3D Model is probably based on a TIN with BLs created from a TS or GPS and you have to be aware of the RATs." I looked at the guy next to me and tried to signal, don’t ...

Untangling GNSS Networks by Shawn "Shag" Greer: – Embracing technology is a great way to weather these troubling economic times. Costs are up and bids are way more competitive than ever before. Virtually everyone is looking for ways to do more with less. In the construction world many times the answer is to turn to automated machine control. The benefits of an ...

3D Drilling Application: Using GPS based Machine Control for Soil Reclamation by Jürgen Reineke: – Soil exchange drillings are a popular practice within reclamation of contaminated soil. Within this the burdened ground is drawn out by drilling & overlapping large holes and afterwards backfilled. German based company DEMLER Spezialtiefbau GmbH + Co. KG is ...