Northwest Upgrade

Adding new machine and telematics solutions improves critical facets of Washington contractor’s operation.

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Two of the most vexing challenges faced by today’s construction professional are the ability to ensure excellence in grading and dealing with ongoing design changes. While the advent of machine control helped alleviate some of the dependence upon grade stakes, blue tops, and the like, increasingly tightening specs remain a concern. And, while the use of removeable storage like thumb drives has helped facilitate the transfer of design data, making that happen can still be still a time-consuming practice. In an effort to deal with both issues, TTC Construction, a Yakima, Washington-based general contractor, automated the majority of their fleet and turned to a telematic solution. In doing so they dramatically reduced the stress of grading by stake and streamlined the process by which design changes can now be made. Given that, TTC might very well stand for “They’re Totally Committed.”

The Stakes Are High

Established more than three decades ago, TTC Construction serves the Yakima and Central Washington area with expertise in excavation, grading, earthmoving, vacuum truck work, and more. For the grading facet of their work, the company has, for years, relied solely upon traditional methods such as grade staking. According to Tyler Schroder, TTC’s controller and resident GPS expert, while effective, that practice had a number of disadvantages.

 

“Anyone in construction today will tell you that a grade stake is fine until it’s knocked down — and they’re always being run over, backed into, etc.,” he said. “Then it becomes a real headache, because it involves waiting on a surveyor, which can hold up that portion of the operation. In fact, it was the need to be less reliant upon surveyors that drove this company to adopt GPS back in 2018. It’s proven to have been an excellent decision.”

Today, TTC is a huge proponent of GNSS-based solutions, employing four sets of Topcon HiPer GNSS bases and rovers; several excavators, a scraper, two Cat D5 dozers, and a pair of 160M graders, all utilizing Topcon control and several of which are running off the company’s MC-X platform.

“Mind you, all the solutions are impressive,” added Schroder. “But the machines running MC-Max seem to hold tolerances tighter and provide an even greater level of accuracy. So, we’re steadily switching to that platform.”

"With the new technology, we can do a job in one month now that, five years ago, would have taken us two to three months. It’s easily doubled our production.”

– Dusty Brownell

Digging the Solution

Those advantages are paying dividends on a current project that involves some utility work, storm drains and preparation for storage unit slabs. According to Schroder, the project, which has been ongoing for about nine months, was ideal for the solutions they employ.

 

“At that job, we used a Cat 336 Next Gen excavator — working off a Topcon HiPer base — to dig out the storm cells and set the catch basins,” he said. “We have most of our excavators wired for machine control and, because switching between machines Is so easy, we share three systems between them. For us, the use of machine control in the excavation facet of the job means an increase in efficiency and productivity. And keeping a man out of the hole to continually check depth is a huge plus in safety as well.”

Having that GNSS capability is also giving TTC something of an upper hand in the increasingly important task of hiring new people, he added. “I think younger people considering construction look at the technology we use and see a better career path. That, in turn, helps us by having a new hire who is both excited to work with us and more tech savvy. It’s better for everyone.”

Getting Good Grades

For the grading facet of the storage unit job, TTC called upon a Cat 160M grader running the Topcon MC-Max system, allowing for a stakeless operation. According to Dusty Brownell, a company supervisor, using the GNSS solution has positively impacted that part of the project in a number of ways.

 

“First of all, productivity greatly increases with GPS,” he said. “The level of prep that was needed doing things the traditional way — using hubs and tape and a grade laser, etc. — really took time. With the new technology, we can do a job in one month now that, five years ago, would have taken us two to three months. It’s easily doubled our production.”


Using GNSS technology also lessened their reliance on survey support. Brownell said that, because the new technology allows everyone to know what’s needed on all parts of the job, at all times, productivity is up.
 

“Today, we are a lot more efficient, our crew sizes are smaller and production moves along. I’d say that, as a company, we are really ahead of the curve on this.”

"Today almost our full fleet runs Sitelink3D; we wouldn’t work without it.”

– Tyler Schroder

Sizing Down

To deal with tight spaces between the forthcoming storage units, TTC reached out to Central Machinery Sales, Inc., their local equipment dealer, to rent a Cat 279 compact track loader and a Level Best GB-108 grader blade controlled by a Topcon MC-Mobile solution.

 

“We were spreading roughly 21,000 sq. ft. of 1 ¼-inch rock — about 2,600 tons of it — for the base course,” said Schroder. “The area was too tight for a normal grader, so we chose to give the smaller machine with the blade a try. In addition to giving us the performance we needed, the design properties of MC-Mobile paid dividends for us as well, when the design for the storage units’ finished floor changed which also changed the proposed slope. So, I was able to walk next to the machine with my tablet and instantly see what it was doing. That helped me find the issues with the slope and correct the model. It was a real time-saver.”

 

The compact solution was so impressive that TCC is considering adding a similar unit to its inventory on a full-time basis. “Central just started carrying the Sharp Grade units which come in a smaller size — that’ll make the machine even more versatile, which will be nice,” added Schroder.

Working “Site” Unseen

The second challenging aspect of work today — implementing design changes — has vexed contractors seemingly since time immemorial. One can imagine workers on the Pyramids at Giza muttering under their breath as the scale of the project grew or the structure’s angle was modified. For TTC — and for most contractors still today — implementing changes used to entail a trip back to the office to grab a new set of modified plans. That practice was eventually replaced by a project manager/superintendent driving out to the job site, sometimes a good distance, with a thumb drive containing the updated digital model, then manually loading it into the machines.

“While a far cry from what we did years ago, that still left a crew at the site waiting for the new data, which impacts production,” said Schroder. “About a year ago, Jerry White from Topcon Solutions Stores’ Kent, Washington, branch, gave me a demonstration of Sitelink3D, Topcon’s telematics solution — I immediately saw the benefits it could bring to our operation. Today almost our full fleet runs Sitelink3D; we wouldn’t work without it.”

"The Topcon solutions have allowed us to progress as a company much quicker than many others in the area — that’s good for us and our customers.”

–Tyler Schroder

Undoing a Wrong

Although implementing design changes is a huge benefit the solution provides, the ability to remotely troubleshoot issues has proven equally valuable to TCC’s operation. According to Schroder, that benefit recently came into play at their current job.

“We brought a grader to the site that we had previously set up with the sonic tracker on the left side of the blade, which meant we had a separate machine profile for that antenna,” he said. “When it got out here and was put to work, however, it was reading between three and four feet off because the antenna was now on the other side. It can sometimes be hard for an operator to identify the problem or articulate it to me. Sitelink remedies that problem.”

From the office, Schroder was able to identify the antenna issue, switch the machine profile back and re-calibrate it. “Once we did that, they were back in business,” he said. “And I did all that without having to go out there. So, the savings in time meant productivity — for both that machine and for me — didn’t suffer.”

He added that the solution also helps build up an operator’s confidence, especially those who are new. “They know that, if they have any questions, they can just give me a call, and I’ll be there with them in a virtual sense. They can see my mouse moving around the screen, and I can point any critical things out to them. Showing them seems to make a much more lasting impact, so we’re not having the same conversation, making the same phone call over and over.

“I can't imagine working without Sitelink3D,” he continued. “Just the sheer amount of time it saves me is worth every single penny it cost. In our industry, time is money, so the faster we can get the information out to the site, process it, and fix any issues that arise, that's time saved — and production maintained. The Topcon solutions have allowed us to progress as a company much quicker than many others in the area — that’s good for us and our customers.”

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