Construction

Geospatial certainty is fundamental to the success of any construction project, from design and planning stages, through to groundworks, civil and structural engineering, fit-out and cladding and recording of as-builts. Murphy Geospatial provide a range of trusted services to assist at each stage of a development project lifecycle.  Our greenfield/brownfield topographical and aerial surveys provide engineers and contractors with the certainty they need to accurately plan their work. Our subsurface surveys help ensure the development is connected to existing utilities and help avoid dangerous and costly utility strikes during construction. We can assist with the accurate set-out of complex or high-precision elements of a build. Our digital reality capture techniques ensure accurate capture of the as-built outcome of a project enabling the adoption of digital maintenance processes and asset optimisation during the in-use phase of the development. 

Murphy Geospatial can assist construction contractors in managing geospatial coordination on their sites. We assist through the use of near real-time verified data, and establishment of digital construction techniques and workflows. This enables early clash detection and avoidance, quantities management and collaborative working providing the best environment for optimised and efficient construction techniques. This is achieved through near real-time model updating and reporting, integrated into BIM workflows if required, providing a factual record of site activities. The result of integrating digital construction workflows through our services reduces risk, time, costs and programme. It is widely accepted that adoption of digital workflows can save on capital project costs: BIM on building projects (up to 20% savings on capital costs, BIM Task Group) and machine control in civils projects (up to 30% savings, Caterpillar).

All construction projects have an unavoidable impact on their surrounding environment throughout the construction phase. Heavy vehicle movements, excavation, piling, stockpiling of materials, steel erection and placing of concrete can generate noise, dust or vibration impacts. It is often a requirement to monitor these impacts of construction activity on neighbouring property or pieces of critical infrastructure. It is important to ensure the impacts do not exceed agreed thresholds so that the construction is not considered an excessive nuisance and that our essential infrastructure can continue to operate in a safe manner. Murphy Geospatial offer consultancy and monitoring services to provide an independent and trusted source of truth to our clients including contractors, local authorities, transport and utility infrastructure operators. 

Murphy Geospatial provide a range of trusted services to assist the planning and design process for any construction project. Boundary surveys define the site extents helping to predict a return on investment with more certainty and prevent potential legal disputes at a later stage. Topographic and aerial surveys provide a digital representation of the development site which will be used as the foundation for all designs.  The establishment of a project primary control grid as part of the initial survey provides a single source of truth and means for coordination for all project stakeholders. 

Subsurface investigations allow designers understand the potential impact of what’s beneath the ground and effectively plan around existing utilities infrastructure. Rights of light analysis help developers understand the impact and access to light of neighbouring buildings prior to construction.  

Our survey deliverables are generally the foundation of all design processes. Delivering our surveys through Building Information Modelling (BIM) ensures that this cost-saving framework can be utilised for the remainder of the project. BIM assists with coordinated design, quantities estimation, visual scheduling, phasing, analysis and collaboration. In addition, it enables the virtual or augmented reality visualisation of a planned development prior to design sign off. Murphy Geospatial can assist our clients in adopting these useful digital services. 

The establishment of an administered baseline control network is of critical importance. In addition, setting protocols around the access to the control network information and history of usage should serve to increase accountability around its use. A control network with associated base survey serves as a reliable and trusted single source of truth and enables coordination of design and construction throughout the project. This results in less risk of design clashes and problems with misalignments on site. It also makes possible the use of machine control for construction equipment and establishes a traceable flow of coordination on the project.  

Long linear projects present unique complications regarding geospatial coordination due to grid reference alignment and geoid transformations. The understanding of xyz position consistency and determination should not be underestimated and poses many technical problems to project stakeholders who may all approach these challenges differently. Governance is part of the solution to overcome these problems.   

Geospatial data helps to plan and optimise the movement of earthworks materials, balancing cut and fill to reduce waste and cost. Verified subsurface mapping helps to protect underground utilities by identifying and validating their location, depth and size. The environmental impact of construction should be minimised if possible and impacts measured through dust noise and vibration monitoring should be mitigated. 

The skyline of our major cities is changing with a surge in the development of high-rise buildings. From a construction and surveying perspective, the development of tall buildings within densely populated urban environments has its challenges. In high-rise construction, it’s important to ensure each level is constructed safely, with vertical alignment around the centrepoint. The strain, load and wind conditions must also be monitored as each level is constructed.

Monitoring data on shrinkages, strains and elastic shortenings is invaluable, helping to minimise the impact of construction to the public, neighbouring buildings, transport infrastructure and heritage structures. Geospatial certainty on high-rise sites helps guarantee the position of critical elements such as piles, the structural skeleton of the building and glass facades.

Once the skeleton of a building is complete the complex process of fit out and installation of mechanical and electrical plant and equipment begins. Geospatial coordination is vitally important to avoid clashes and reduce material waste. A geospatial management role established for this project will ensure the administration of the baseline control for all project stakeholders and provide certainty around its position and use. Typically this involves the preparation of a geospatial management plan, agreed by all project stakeholders, which sets out the protocols around use of the control network. The plan will help coordinate BIM and geospatial data, checking and coordination of progress surveys and/or as-builts for integration into a final as-built dataset which can be carried into the operational phase of the project.

• Guarantee the position of fit-out features and MEP
• Avoid clashes between design and installation with clash detection

It is vitally important that the investment made in our civil infrastructure is safeguarded by effective maintenance during the in-use phase of the asset lifecycle.  This can be assisted by the creation of a digital twin representing the asset which can be integrated into facilities management. RFID and QR code tagging make identification of features in the asset model a simple process, ensuring that condition reporting and maintenance operations are accurately recorded again the correct element. Real-time monitoring and periodic inspections of the asset can gauge the rate of movement, corrosion, deterioration and other metrics to feed into predictive rather than reactive maintenance operations. Leveraging the use of sensors connected to the Internet of Things and images of difficult to access areas captured by UAV can greatly assist in any monitoring plan for an asset.