Hydro-Electric Power Station Laser Scanning
GE Renewable Energy’s project manager was unfamiliar with laser scanning and point cloud deliverables but was interested in how they may benefit the project. We worked with the client over video link to France and Australia to plan and scope the project. We took the time to build trust and listen to the client’s objectives allowing us to accurately scope the output to best suit the client’s needs which included ensuring the resulting dataset would work with existing software platforms and tools.
Being a large multi-national corporation, the onboarding process for Babbage to become a GE Renewable Energy supplier was reasonably lengthy and time-consuming.
While it was a firm client requirement that this be completed before work on the project commenced, the project was under tight time deadlines.
To ensure the best outcome, we worked closely with the client to complete as much pre-work as possible and to have our team lined up to mobilise to site the moment the onboarding process was completed. Given that the site is in a remote part of the South Island this required careful logistics and significant planning to line up travel, accommodation and equipment to be on-call at short notice.
The site presented numerous challenges given it is not permanently manned and the remote location meant plant personnel had to travel to provide our team with access. Despite the task typically taking more than a day to complete, our field team made an early start and worked quickly, efficiently and late into the evening to ensure the capture was completed in a single day avoiding plant personnel having to return to site the following day.
Additionally, personal safety of our field team was paramount and the plant presented a range of significant hazards and areas with very difficult access.
In particular, the plant basement area had tight corridors, exposed power connections, and large machinery to navigate safely around, while our team accurately and comprehensively captured the entire site.
Revisits due to poor capture of information would have resulted in unacceptable time delays and costs. In total 100 scans within the plant interior across two levels were captured in a single day including three hours of return travel to site.
Following completion of the scanning on site, our office team worked swiftly to provide the deliverable to the client. In this case, a high-definition point cloud with HDR colour imagery was prepared in a format compatible with GE Renewable Energy’s existing cloud-hosting platform
Once we delivered the dataset, we continued to provide ongoing support to the client’s design team to ensure that they were achieving the expected benefits of our service. Feedback from the client has been overwhelmingly positive and they intend to use the power of laser scanning on many future projects
The project also provided our scanning team with several learning opportunities that included:
•How to work across different time zones.
•Communicating exclusively over email and video calls vs our usual preference to meet in person wherever possible.
•How to support new users of laser scanning outputs such as point clouds and digital models to get the best out of them.
It was also a great opportunity to see the power of laser scanning and reality capture solutions in facilitating international design collaboration on a project where the design team and decision-makers are unable to personally visit the site.
Through the use of 3D laser scanning, Babbage Land Survey captured the heritage of the iconic hydro-electric station in New Zealand with unparalleled precision.
This digital replica facilitated seamless upgrades for the future, particularly in the installation of new turbines by GE Renewable Energy's offshore design engineers.
Despite the challenges posed by navigating a historic site and collaborating across continents, the power of laser scanning enabled the team to effectively overcome obstacles.
The 3D point cloud dataset provided unprecedented insights, including detailed views of massive turbine components inaccessible through traditional surveying methods.
Furthermore, the integration of high-definition 360-degree images empowered GE Renewable Energy's globally dispersed team, facilitating immersive engagement in the design process.
Ultimately, the project's swift execution, in accordance with the client's critical timeline, was achieved without causing downtime at the hydro-electric station, even during cold winter months.
This technological marvel of 3D laser scanning ensures the continued service and preservation of the hydro-electric station, securing its legacy for many years to come.
Babbage is proud to be a multi-disciplinary, employee-owned New Zealand company. On complex projects like these, the value of a team of in-house experts cannot be understated. Our one-stop-shop approach provides significant advantages through enhanced communication, clear lines of responsibility, collaboration, knowledge-sharing and a common goal. In the end, the project and client benefit and we are proud to add this one to our list of successes.
