You know you're working in an interesting industry when the currents of the week push you to spend a couple of late night hours searching for some 'standard' dimensions for humans to try to justify the placement of a datalogger in a certain location on site.
...But, I don't think we'd have it any other way.
KODA MUST BE BUSY
After a particularly busy month on site it occurred to me that an update is WELL overdue. Let's quickly touch on what the GEODATA KODA team have achieved in the last 12 or so months since we hit the ground "Back Downunder".
- We've gone from one to three. Steve Garlinge, Daniel O'Shaughnessy and Luke Pearce make up the team here in Sydney. And what a team it is. Keep it up.
- Roadheaders: We just commissioned the 13th roadheader on site at the NorthConnex project. We're very proud of this achievement. In some ways, it's terrifying to think that we have more than twice as many machines running as for the CrossCity Tunnel (circa 2004), and that we have another 6 (or so) to go. It's a mix of makes, models and generations of machines, but we've managed to keep everything moving ahead together. Geodata and Sandvik have really pushed the envelope here with what they are hoping to achieve in this space. That comes with a few aches and pains, but the results will be worth it. Reliability from such deeply integrated systems is just the tip of the iceberg!
- Rockbolters: About 6... (With more to come). This has been a particularly challenging endeavour, but we've learnt a lot. Data management surprised us all as one of the biggest challenges in this space. Lots of code has been written, and there's lots more to come.
- Monitoring Systems: We've installed at least 10 significant monitoring systems. Most are total station based systems, but we've also tried out some new wireless tiltmeter technology and taken some vibration monitoring systems to the next level in a particularly sensitive project. Kronos is being used on NorthConnex and at WestConnex 1B, and it is being very well received. KODA has pitched in here too with some custom modules to talk directly to Kronos from inside the tunnels to keep the survey data on such a big project flowing, and correct.
PARTNERS IN CRIME
We haven't done it alone - but that's what the Geodata KODA alliance is about. The team back at Home Base (Austria) prep the gear, calibrate the Sandvik machines and keep the software updates flowing.
MST Global have grown to become more and more involved with our work. Early on in the NorthConnex project we adopted their ImpactWAP product as an integral part of the roadheader/rockbolter navigation system. As such, we've been able to provide the NorthConnex project with a lean and reliable communication system. Collectively, we keep the machines talking, and MST Global keep the workers talking and safe with theirs.