Topcon Tech Helps Tie Bypass Together

At Ngaruawahia a positive mix of operator talent and Topcon’s precision 3D Machine Control technology has resulted in the successful completion of a large-scale infrastructure project, as civil contracting firm Higgins Group complete the build of a lengthy section of Waikato Expressway.

When you have 11km of main alignment roading to construct in order to tie together two ends of an extensive RONS infrastructure project - and the clock is ticking - Topcon’s 3D Machine Control technology certainly helps speed up this large scale-yet-intricate process.

That’s the conclusion Hamish Tarr, Contract Engineer for Higgins Group, has come to after a year spent working with operators utilising motor grader-specific total station machine control software every day.

“I originally started working on the ground helping set up our machines with the machine control systems, completing calibrations and survey pick-ups, but now we have two engineering grads doing machine set-ups and final as-built work, so I’m back in the office checking over the design files and as-built data.”

“That initial time spent working with 3DMC gave me a good understanding of how it works and how it can benefit the grader operators. As with any new piece of software you utilise for business there are systems and processes that need to be developed around it, but adopting the 3DMC system itself was very straight forward.”

Hamish says the grader operator tasked with completing the main alignment grading, stabilising and final trim work on the expressway - which was all completed on time in mid-December last year - had used 2D machine control systems before, but never a full 3D system; yet in no more than a couple of days he was using the system to its fullest, which helped speed the project along.

“There’s no doubt the Topcon system speeds everything up. It means the operator can focus on ride and shoulders - the sort of stuff there is so often little time to focus on - because the 3DMC system is taking care of levels.”

Higgins constructed several kilometres of local roads in addition to the 11km of main alignment expressway. The Ngaruawahia section ties onto the Te Rapa section of expressway further south and the Taupiri section to the north. Beyond Taupiri a further stretch will eventually bypass Huntly and join onto the existing network at Rangiriri.

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Stephen Hough, Higgins Group’s Senior Project Manager on-site at Ngaruawahia, was also impressed with Topcon’s machine control technology for graders.

“The system eliminates the need for a surveyor on the ground continually, so that works from a health and safety point of view and makes for a much quicker construction process overall than were we to complete everything manually,” he says.

Topcon’s 3D Machine Control system - which consists of multiple sensors for mainfall, rotation and slope, along with a prism, GX-60 control box and IMU sensor - has now been fitted to four of Higgins’ graders.

With Higgins now involved in major RONS projects in the lower North Island, key learnings from the company’s experiences with 3DMC on the Ngaruawahia Bypass will be able to be utilised in future work to their advantage.

“The learning process has been huge for us,” concludes Stephen Hough. “From having absolutely no experience of 3DMC technology to where we are now has been a massive leap for everyone concerned. If anything it underlines the fact you still need good operators to grasp the intricacies of the system.”

“This technology is where things are heading and we have to remain competitive. Now we can take what we’ve learnt and achieved on the Bypass project and utilise it elsewhere; in that regard I expect our investment in the Topcon gear will prove cost-effective.”