Earthworks control automation

Kirchbach, K; Aziz, ZUH; Tezel, BA

Abstract

Earthwork processes are influenced by a wide range of factors, including varying soil and weather conditions, machine related factors, traffic conditions, local site constraints and other human related factors. Dumpers and bulldozers are heavy duty equipment and there is need to optimise their operational efficiencies. Given dynamic nature of site and changing weather conditions, like temperature, precipitation or wind, can lead to process disturbance like complete restrictions on the site roads or a considerable slow down. Therefore, it is necessary to capture accurate data from site operations to reduce waste in earthwork processes.
Even though various commercial vendors (e.g. Leica, Trimble) have started to provide commercial solutions to allow telematics operations (e.g. remote support, fleet management, grade control), costs of these solutions are prohibitive. Presented research proposes the use of low cost data capturing techniques and off-the-shelf technology components to collect real time and reliable data on Earthworks processes.
This research aims to enhance earthworks efficiency through better utilisation of building vehicles and an improved information flow. On-site observations and anecdotal evidence suggest that waiting time for excavators and dumpers on Highways Agency’s schemes is a common occurrence. However, despite this evidence, there is a lack of real-time or archival data available on site operations and not enough effort is spent on gathering reliable and accurate data. In order to enable an optimised process, the need for an automated real-time data collection on construction sites is apparent.

Citation

Kirchbach, K., Aziz, Z., & Tezel, B. (2015). Earthworks control automation

• Report Type: Technical Report
• Publication Date: May 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jun 30, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781907842702
• Keywords: Earthworks, road, highway, construction, automation
• Publisher URL: http://www.salford.ac.uk/built-environment
• Additional Information: Access Information : Open access