The Abu Dhabi General Services Company, Musanada, has revealed that it has started operating and deploying a new engineering system based on machine guidance using Geographical Positioning System, GPS, for grading works, thereby guaranteeing highly accurate control, improvement in the management of occupational safety at construction sites, and enhanced quality of work in the infrastructure sector.
The new system, which is being operated in co-operation with contracting companies, will allow the company to stay abreast of the work-related developments, minimise the occurrence of occupational incidents and help maintain life and property.
Commenting on the announcement, Eng. Suwaidan Rashed Al Dhaheri, Acting CEO of Musanada, said, "The new system operates based on the installation of the machine guidance application, which allows real-time tracking of equipment and ensures that the earth level is matched to the levels and ratios predefined in the system. This ensures a high-quality and highly accurate final product, which helps improve the quality of work in the infrastructure sector.
"The objective we hope to achieve from the implementation of this system in terms of occupational health is minimising the presence of human resources during movement of equipment inside operational areas and therefore minimising the likelihood of fatal incidents or unsafe use of equipment," he added.
"Excavation, levelling and grading of the foundation layers of roads and infrastructure using traditional techniques mainly relied on the skills and accumulated experience of the machine operator to complete the required work within shortest possible time. In addition, the presence of foremen and other colleagues was essential while operating the machine, due to the operator’s inadequate visibility to see around and under the machine. Upgrading such machines by deploying GPS control has helped increase productivity by 30 percent, which will help complete and deliver projects as per the defined schedule," he said.
It also achieves savings estimated at AED0.93 fils per square meter after taking into consideration the overall cost of supply and installation of the device. It helps decrease construction material losses by 15 percent, as the traditional method relied on repeating the work in order to reach the required quality. It also assists in obtaining an accurate, fast and easy-to-track database, thanks to the self-memory available in the GPS control system, which allows fast transfer of all positioning data to PC to be analysed by relevant applications.
This system does not require human intervention except the presence of the operator. However, due to the sophisticated systems installed on the equipment, the operator should be adequately trained to be able to use the system effectively and efficiently, he informed.

Source: WAM