GPS machine control now runs across the whole earthworks fleet
The last four excavators were fitted in July, which means every machine on an earthworks package now cuts to the engineer’s model rather than to pegs.
We started fitting GPS control in 2023 on the two 30 tonne excavators, mostly to see whether the savings people claimed were real. They were, and the last four machines were fitted over the July shutdown. Every excavator and dozer on an earthworks package now cuts directly to the engineer’s model.
What it changes for a client
Three things, in the order they matter. Formation is right the first time, so there is no re-dig and no argument about who moved a peg. Quantities are measured off the machine rather than estimated, so the monthly application matches what was actually moved. And we can issue as-dug survey data weekly, which lets the structural engineer sign off formation without coming to site.
What it does not change
It does not replace a setting-out engineer, and anyone who tells you otherwise has not run a cut and fill on a wet site. We still survey independently and we still peg the critical levels. The machine model is a tool, not a substitute for someone checking.
More
Section 104 drainage: what actually slows an adoption down
Four things hold up an adoption agreement, and three of them are decided before anyone breaks ground. Worth knowing if you are programming a residential site.
Read itOur three-year accident frequency rate, and how we count it
We publish the figure and the method, because an AFR quoted without a method is not a number, it is a claim.
Read it