For contractors competing for infrastructure projects funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, the challenge is clear: bid competitively enough to win the contract while maintaining healthy profit margins on the project.
“Our technologies and experience enable us to address every cost, design, construction and risk issue for owners, design-builders, contractors, engineers, public-private partnerships and government agencies,” said Gerard Manley, vice president of Engineered Solutions.
“By providing the right geotechnical positioning systems and engineering support, Leica Geosystems can help contractors reduce project costs all around—from lower materials and labor to eliminating costly reworks by measuring the job right the first time,” he noted.
“The New Infrastructure Boom Market”In a special report, titled “7 Ways to Profit from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”, Leica Geosystems offers:
- A review of the ARRA opportunity;
- How to win these contracts; and
- How to build them more profitably.
Wells Street Bridge project in Chicago
The Wells Street Bridge carries vehicular, pedestrian and train traffic into and out of Chicago’s Loop district. The 350-ft-long bridge is a bascule design with two individual spans pivoting on fixed trunnions located at each end of the structure. Using large concrete counterweights, the spans can be raised and lowered to allow large boats to travel under the bridge.
The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) retained the Dynasty group through AECOM to provide a professional survey. But surveying the busy bridge with a traditional total station, level and measuring tape would take weeks of field time, resulting in disruptions to a crucial traffic route during rush hour.
For portions of the bridge accessible to surveyors, the Leica HDS6000 phase-based scanner collected large amounts of high-density data, scanning 360 degrees of roadway, train track and bridge steel in about seven minutes.
For inaccessible areas of the bridge, surveyors used four Leica ScanStation set-ups, one at each of the four corners of the bridge.
Laser scanning increased crew safety by allowing the crew to avoid the electrified rail on the train tracks and other hazards of surveying a heavily trafficked bridge. With the data density from the phase-based scanner, Dynasty was able to generate the fine images of project components that the down-stream users desired.
In addition, use of laser scanning helped reduce field time by 20%. To learn more, sign up for the "How to Win" Webcast Series .
