By J.D. Booth

From the reaches of space to the depths of a roadbed or other construction surface: users of technology developed around the U.S. government's Global Positioning System (GPS) have the ability to accurately pinpoint a location well beyond the traditional marine navigation or even outdoors enthusiast applications.

Indeed, in the nine years since the U.S. Air Force Space Command declared the system fully operational, the ability to generate a digital "you are here" signal has found its way into the field of construction and excavating - and with profitable results.

As Trimble Navigation's Pete Kaz points out, contractors are using the company's GPS-based technology to bring enhanced levels of safety, accuracy and productivity to their projects.

"Having the ability to pinpoint the location of a piece of equipment and know on an interactive basis how much material is being moved and where the equipment is in any given moment is taking the industry to an entirely new level," he said.

Kaz made the comments last month at "GPS: 2," a workshop hosted by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 324 at its Howell Education Center, a 515-acre state-of-the art training center 40 miles west of Detroit. Presented jointly by Local 324, Trimble Navigation and Michigan CAT, the two-day workshop featured presentations and hands-on demonstrations of the latest in GPS technology and heavy equipment.

Trimble's SiteVision was created to receive satellite signals and "fine-tune" the accuracy through a local radio system that broadcasts a correcting signal to the earth-moving equipment, the result being accuracies never before achieved, even by the highest of GPS standards.

"We know within 1/10th of a foot exactly where the equipment is at any given time," said Kaz, who points to a base-station broadcast as key to the system. For contractors such as M&M Excavating, a 75-employee firm based in Gaylord, Mich., that accuracy means new levels of productivity.

"We've increased our fine grading operation by about 30 percent," says Ken Nowicki, M&M's president.

The comments are echoed by Brian DeLong, project manager with Muskegon-based Jackson-Merkey Contractors, Inc., which has the Trimble system on two of its dozers as well as a grader. "The system has helped us increase productivity, especially as it relates to closer tolerances," says DeLong. "It has also given us better yields on materials."

Trimble's SiteVision system complements an even more precise 3D BladePro system that uses a combination of laser guidance and the GPS technology to achieve even closer tolerances.

But having the technology is one thing; being able to have qualified operators who know how to run the equipment is quite another.

"And that's where we come in," says Gregg A. Newsom, training director of the Local 324 Journeyman & Apprenticeship Training Fund, Inc. (JATF) and its Howell Education Center, which provides substantial, year-round training opportunities for workers to operate the GPS-enabled units (dozers, excavators, graders, and other earth-moving equipment).

Newsom says Local 324 is committed to delivering the latest training to operators.

"Our members know how important this new technology is to the success of contractors," says Newsom. "We're providing that talent and working with contractors throughout the region as the benefits of this technology are becoming known."

Trimble's Kaz says company's employing the GPS-enabled technology are seeing a payback typically measured in months, not years. That payback comes directly from the new levels of accuracy.

"Contractors are able to get more productivity out of a piece of equipment," says Kaz. "They're also able to control more precisely the amount of fill that's being used on a project."

Graphical displays available to the operator show what sensors on the blade or shovel of the equipment send to Trimble's base station. And audible alarms indicate exactly when pre-set measurements call for as far as a project is concerned. Contractors also gain the advantage of reducing the amount of manual staking required on a project site.

By mapping out the construction site beforehand, users of the Trimble technology have a digital blueprint of what an equipment operator will ultimately see when the earth is being moved. "They don't need nearly as many stakes in the ground," says Kaz.

That in itself can help contractors in another way.

"We see safety as being among the benefits," says Jackson-Merkey's Brian DeLong, who points to a reduced need for string lining with the Trimble system.

But both DeLong and M&M's Ken Nowicki say the new levels of precision mean contractors must pay closer attention to the accuracy of the pre-construction plans.

"You have to make sure the data in the machine is correct," says Nowicki. "That means double checking."

DeLong agrees. "Spending the time looking at the digital files is something that's very important," he said.

For Newsom of the Operating Engineers Training Center, the investment the union has made in the technology means contractors will benefit for years to come.

"We've developed the curriculum and we're building that pool of operators that contractors will be able to draw from," says Newsom. "It's a program we've worked hard to develop, and are committed to supporting."
(J.D. Booth is a freelance writer.)

A GRADER OPERATOR can adjust the rig's blade according to information obtained from the GPS receiver, shown attached to the blade.