Trust but verify. It’s a time-honored treaty enforcement principle. It also works well as a basic mantra for BIM (building information modeling)-based building construction. Just ask the Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) Team at Gilbane, a family-owned and operated construction company. Armed with a phase-shift laser scanner, a Gilbane VDC engineering team recently documented measurement discrepancies on a high-profile building construction project.
Gilbane specializes in the high-wire world of at-risk construction. On occasion, Gilbane is called in to rescue troubled projects. Recently the Gilbane VDC team was summoned to do just that. John Tocci, Jr., Director of the VDC Team sets the stage: “The work involves a new corporate campus, the headquarters of a Fortune 500 company. For various reasons, the previous construction manager was terminated. That happened on a Friday. My team took over the job on Saturday. By Sunday afternoon we were laser scanning part of the project in order to reconcile measurements for Monday morning meetings.”
Trade contractors desperately needed reliable benchmarks to accurately set walls, ducts, pipe, conduit locations, and other assemblies. Then there was the elevator shaft. Laser scanning verified two-inch variations on all sides, with the elevator opening three inches smaller than it should be. There was a new sheriff in town and the trades eventually rallied to the Gilbane VDC team.
A point cloud of modeled as-built conditions.
“We’ve had a number of cases where the field team, trade contractors, or architects have argued with us about dimensions of existing conditions, Tocci stated. “We’ve been right every time. It underscores the fact that BIM and VDC, no matter how established we think it is, is still an emerging technology.”
As Gilbane discovered the anecdotal side of laser scanning pales in comparison to the dramatic ROI story. “Our first laser scanner paid for itself in the first week of operation,” Tocci reports. “We conservatively calculate we saved about $150,000 on the first project we scanned.” Just one week? Understandably, that kind of near-instant payback may strike some as too good to be true. Believe it, says Tocci. “If anyone wants to reverse engineer the calculations, they’ll quickly see the payback was actually quite larger,” Tocci reports.
“We assigned super-conservative values to all the ordinary construction tasks that scanning eliminates. We factor-in the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing packages on the job. “One week understates it. With scanning, there are no back charges. No finger pointing. No remediation. It’s all because it was measured right the first time,” Tocci says.
Like many risk-adverse businesses, Gilbane takes a careful, deliberate path to integrating new technology into their business. “The Focus3D Laser Scanner changed the industry,” Tocci declares. “When it came out it was three times less expensive than its competitors. Instead of capturing a single point at once, it can capture 978 million points per second. That’s a radically different scenario. It’s so easy for one person to move it around. It captures levels of detail that you didn’t think it could. “It’s an amazing tool. We now verify and find discrepancies that might bite us later on. All that risk goes away. We couldn’t be happier or more impressed,” Tocci says.
More Information:
FARO Technologies
250 Technology Park
Lake Mary, FL 32746
Phone: 407-333-9911 | Fax: 407-333-4181
aec.faro.com
Related Stories
| Oct 8, 2014
New tools for community feedback and action
Too often, members of a community are put into a reactive position, asked for their input only when a major project is proposed. But examples of proactive civic engagement are beginning to emerge, write James Miner and Jessie Bauters.
| Oct 7, 2014
Structured, not stirred: The architecture of cocktails [infographic]
In this downloadable graphic, technologist Shaan Hurley dissects 37 cocktails and analyzes their architectural makeup.
Sponsored | | Sep 30, 2014
What are you doing to win business and improve morale?? VDC Director Kris Lengieza shares ways to do both
Bluebeam's Sasha Reed sits down with Kris Lengieza, Director of Virtual Design and Construction for Stiles Corporation, to learn how he approaches change management. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Sep 25, 2014
Your business doesn’t always need to change
By now, the idea that organizations must adapt to maintain both relevance and market share is so ingrained that it’s been reduced to pithy sayings. But is constant adaptation always the best policy? SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Sep 17, 2014
The balance between innovation and standardization – How DPR Construction achieves both
How does DPR strike a balance between standardization and innovation? In today’s Digital COM video Blog, Sasha Reed interviews Nathan Wood, Innovator with DPR Construction, to learn more about their successful approach to fueling innovation. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Sep 12, 2014
Total immersion: Has virtual reality's time finally come?
The emergence of low-cost VR technology means that anyone with a few hundred bucks and a decent workstation can get in the game. But, as our experts reveal, pulling off VR is not so simple.
| Sep 10, 2014
Must See: Shape-shifting architecture that responds to heat
Students in Barcelona have created a composite material using shape memory polymers that can deform and return to their original state when activated by cues like heat, humidity, and light.
| Sep 9, 2014
Take a look at the hardhat of the future
A Los Angeles-based startup added augmented reality technology to a hardhat, creating a smart helmet.
| Sep 8, 2014
Trimble acquires Gehry Technologies, aims to create tools for linking office and job site
Trimble and Frank Gehry announced that they have entered into a strategic alliance to collaborate to transform the construction industry by further connecting the office to on-site construction technologies. As part of the alliance, Trimble has acquired Gehry Technologies.
Sponsored | | Sep 2, 2014
A smarter way to manage projects
Understanding effective project management helps many big and small organizations to carry out large-scale projects on time, on budget and with lesser commotion.
