________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
McKinsey recently confirmed what we all knew – projects , especially megaprojects , typically run well over budget and are hampered by incessant delays . But they also drew attention to the importance of the pre-construction period , noting that “ preconstruction excellence enables stakeholders to understand the full potential of cost and schedule improvements across a project , and then to build or transform the project delivery system to ensure this potential is delivered .”
The value of underground vision
To design and properly deploy / maintain renewable energy systems and a more sustainable built world , major shifts in construction must take place . In fact , Bain found that energy and utilities companies and engineering , procurement , and construction ( EPC ) contractors all agree on the need to overhaul how large-scale capital projects are managed , with some actively exploring ways to improve the end-to-end project delivery model .
Effectively upgrading aging infrastructure and creating a greener grid , depends on construction companies , energy providers and regulators having an accurate view of what lies underground . Insufficiencies in the early planning stages , such as site selection , create tremendous on-site and long-term risks for infrastructure projects .
The inability to ‘ see ’ underground has created a longstanding challenge for construction leaders as even the most sophisticated conventional methods of underground exploration and mapping rely on incomplete , inaccurate data . Costly , environmentally damaging and potentially catastrophic incidents can occur when teams don ’ t have an accurate map of what lies beneath the surface before they dig - from hitting electric lines and striking natural gas pipes , to unearthing abandoned utility assets or inadvertently relying on unstable ground
layers . There is no room for uncertainty when it comes to ensuring safer , more sustainable infrastructure projects .
Preventing delays with AIpowered planning
Key steps that should be taken before any build for climate-conscious construction have been traditionally overlooked or thought to be unobtainable . However , advances in artificial intelligence ( AI ) and multi-sensing technologies have unlocked a new era of more sustainable construction that was previously unachievable … and it starts well before a single shovel is raised or heavy machinery is brought in .
AI and advanced underground sensing significantly reduce the carbon footprint of construction projects by enabling precise planning and execution from early in the process and then at every step through to completion . Construction teams never want to encounter unexpected obstacles , especially when valuable , and often volatile , buried assets are involved .
Processing enormous amounts of data ( up to 30 times more than traditional scanning
28