Balfour Beatty’s Hong Kong arm, Gammon Construction, has come to an agreement with digital twin start-up Sensat to integrate all drone-captured topographical, asset, and real-time operation data into a single digital platform.
Balfour says the move will enable real-time visualisation of project data anywhere and anytime.
Sensat’s platform is a cloud-based common visualisation environment that allows project managers to layer, locate, and compare site data over time across teams, and visualise dynamic project performance, accessing site data remotely.
Sensat turns complex visual and spatial data into ‘contextual simulated reality’ designed to enable computers to solve real-world problems.
Sensat has been involved in mapping the Phase One route of HS2 – one of the largest drone surveys in the UK.
It is also part of HS2’s Innovation Accelerator initiative.
Commenting on the move, Paul Evans, executive director and CTO of Gammon, said: “At Gammon, it has been a common practice for our projects to use drones to capture project data.
“This, together with the increased digital data collection from IoT sensors and computer vision on our sites, means we are starting to see the criticality of having a versatile data platform to process and analyse this data to generate insights for project management.
“Sensat’s technology is by far one the most advanced in fulfilling such needs.”
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Gammon and Sensat have been performing pilot trial projects to demonstrate value to Gammon’s clients and to showcase how the technology integrates with other digital technologies.
Corin Wilson, director of Trade and Investment at the Department for International Trade, added: “This is an exciting partnership between Gammon and Sensat, which again demonstrates the interest in tech collaborations between the UK and Hong Kong.
“The UK has a long pedigree and a world-class reputation in developing and utilising innovative technology to optimise the built environment.
“We are keen to continue working with Hong Kong industry and government so that we can bring our innovative technologies to make the world’s cities more sustainable, responsive, and smart.”
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