Wardrop’s clients are continually challenged to achieve more with less and to do it on schedule and under budget.  Construction cost overruns on maintenance and capital projects can represent from 10 to 50% of budgeted construction costs.  The phrase “nothing goes according to plan” has become common rhetoric.  Wardrop believes it is simply time for better plans.

The foundation for better plans is found in High Definition Surveying (HDS).  The Leica HDS 3000 system is the most versatile, user-friendly system on the market today.  The tripod mounted HDS 3000 is quickly set up in the proposed project area whether it is inside a cluttered room or confined space, or an open area outdoors. The scanner is operated via a laptop interface and the data collected by the HDS 3000 downloads in real time in 3D automatically displaying the survey data being collected. 

The system first collects digital photographs of the area and pieces them together into a 3D panoramic view.  Then it scans the area using its time-of-flight laser measuring tool to collect data points in 3 dimensional coordinates.  The digital photography is overlaid to apply colour to the data points giving the resulting point cloud a photo-like appearance.  The scanner can be relocated as required to resume data collection throughout the subject area, all while maintaining continuity in the data.  Accurate 2D and 3D drawings can be generated in a variety of CAD platforms for use in design and visualization exercises.

Benefits include:

• Lower cost as-built and topographic surveys
• Fewer costly “return visits” to the site
• More accurate, complete as-builts, better retrofit designs
• Less construction rework caused by inaccurate as-built information
• Factory-fabricate instead of field-fabricate
• Reduce facility downtime
• Shorten project cycles
• More detail
• Unobtrusive data capture
• Improved safety