By Kevin Garcia
Much like the unified layers that create a long-lasting concrete or asphalt foundation, the means and methods for forming these surfaces are now possible through one cohesive data-driven endeavor.
From the office tools that support concept, bidding, financial management and scheduling to the field-based tools that drive execution and maintenance of a project, implementing digital workflows has been proven to enhance project delivery, jobsite safety and material efficiency for paving contractors and project owners.
More recently, the integration of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), reality capture and mobile mapping are further enhancing today’s industry best practices across the construction lifecycle of roads, airports, parking lots and other concrete or asphalt surfaces. Here’s a look inside the paving industry’s tech-enabled lifecycle transformation.
Operational Incentives
There’s a growing recognition that the tools driving more streamlined operations across the lifecycle of a project are critical to remain competitive in the paving space, with contractors investing in solutions that begin in the earliest days of bidding a proposed project. With the goal of eliminating paper processes, these solutions allow a seamless data flow between various activities, including estimating, scheduling, field tracking and accounting systems.
When a new project comes in, progressive contractors use estimating and project management software to transform engineering plans into a comprehensive project blueprint, performing digital takeoffs, calculating the precise resource requirement, project duration and required materials – whether road base, soils, sand, asphalt or concrete. Estimating data is seamlessly transitioned to resource scheduling and performance tracking applications to sync on-site operations and timelines with what was envisioned in the bid. Solutions such as electronic field logs and drone surveying are also increasingly valuable to track project progress in real-time, reduce manual data entry, minimize errors and help stakeholders make informed decisions.
As an example, paving contractor Bituminous Roadways demonstrated the value of this digital workflow on a recent 282,000-square-foot FedEx warehouse project. In this case, data used for precise bidding was augmented with drone-captured data for field tracking and accounting. According to the firm, what once took weeks of manual paperwork now happens in real-time, with digital tools providing instant insights into project performance.
Nate Larson, construction technologist with Bituminous Roadways, said, “Our dispatchers, foremen and superintendents rely on the real-time updates and digital visualization of the scheduling software to coordinate crews, equipment, materials and up to 200 trucks daily during peak season. The daily visibility into project progress via the performance tracking software is especially important on long-term projects where scope creep can be a concern.”
A Surface of Symmetry
In parallel to estimating and operations workflows, paving contractors are also continuing to advance their integrated field-based digital workflows, particularly those that include automated machine control and survey solutions. In the world of concrete, surface smoothness is everything, with the International Roughness Index (IRI) roadway roughness statistic guiding most specifications.
Of note, some total station-based paving systems are accurate to +/- 3 mm horizontally and +/-1 mm vertically. The nearly $2 billion airport expansion of the Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima, Peru, required 70,000 cubic meters of concrete. For this project, the team used machine control on graders with corrections and a universal total station to achieve tolerances on subbase and base layers, while asphalt control technology boosted accuracy and control. While sensors and other technology collected data, field-focused software analyzed how much material to lay – providing seamless guidance for the operator. Automatic paving control technology eliminated time-consuming prep work such as survey stakes, which empowered crews to acquire to grade and tolerances faster, while producing some of the smoothest surfaces possible – accuracies that exceeded the 1.8-centimeter requirement.
Carlos Ruiz Miranda, chief surveyor with SACYR, part of the Inti Punku consortium that was selected to engineer and construct the new, modern passenger terminal, said, “We haven’t had a single non-conformity from the client. Even though we started months behind schedule, we managed to finish two months ahead of schedule. This has meant, above all, cost savings and a 20% increase in production.”
For Toledo, Ohio-based Buck Brothers Asphalt Paving & Concrete, the technology is also applicable for parking lots. On a recent project, crews used a Universal Total Station (UTS) to regrade a 20-year-old, 100,000-square-foot parking lot to 1/16″ precision with curbs and islands optimized for drainage. Jacob Buck, co-owner of Buck Brothers, said, “Our old methods were inefficient and sometimes inaccurate, which required rework. Now I know everything we pave is at the right thickness and is going to drain correctly – and that’s big in the asphalt world. I can’t picture us ever going back to the way we did it before.”
Setting New Benchmarks
While operational and field-based solutions are readily available, the burden of collecting data about the physical world to verify completed work and improve future bidding, resource allocation and operational strategies has been a bit more of a challenge.
The advancement of reality capture and mobile mapping is helping. Early mobile mapping systems faced limitations in horizontal accuracy, but that’s not an issue as much anymore. Today’s systems offer superior vertical and horizontal accuracy along with rapid deployment. These systems analyze the as-planned information from their estimating software against the as-performed results, scrutinizing whether they completed the job on time and within budget. This critical review identifies where they exceeded or fell short of expectations, providing valuable insights for improving future projects. The detailed documentation – showing the journey from initial design to final execution – is then handed to the project owner, creating a transparent, data-driven record of the entire construction process. As well, mobile mapping solutions with high-resolution LiDAR data are beginning to incorporate AI-driven workflows for road condition evaluation and assessments. Owners can quickly see surface-level features such as potholes and wear patterns.
Caltrans Facts and SB1 Savings reports from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) noted that the agency saved nearly $7 million in fiscal year 2021-2022 by using mobile mapping and automated machine guidance technology for several projects. The data is used by inspectors to verify grades during rough grading and to improve quantity estimating practices. During the full year, the agency saved nearly $5 million in all earthworks projects and about $1.9 million by reducing the number of construction working days.
As well, design optimization and AI will play a significant role in the future. Field solutions such as Trimble Business Center already incorporate AI capabilities that automate tasks such as point cloud classification and feature extraction. With accurate ground data and engineering plans, the need for experienced CAD operators to tweak models for hours may be replaced by the simplicity of clicking a button. This will streamline the process, enabling a swift transition from project bidding to construction.
Paving for the Future
With each project, the technology is not only enhancing precision and productivity but also setting new benchmarks for quality and performance. The industry is in a transformative era where the craft of paving aligns seamlessly with cutting-edge technology, making way for smoother, more long-lasting surfaces.
Kevin Garcia is General Manager of Civil Specialty Construction for Trimble. Trimble is transforming the ways people move, build and live. Core technologies in positioning, modeling and data analytics connect the digital and physical worlds to improve our customers’ productivity, quality, safety, transparency and sustainability. For more information about Trimble (Nasdaq: TRMB), visit: www.trimble.com
