Remote monitoring saves nearly $1 million in time and money

The Challenge

Constructed in 1930, the Motu Bridge is 1.5 hours drive from Gisborne on the East Coast of New Zealand.

In 2016 a $6.5 million construction project led by Fulton Hogan and commissioned by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) was launched to replace the existing single lane bridge with a new two-lane structure and improve the alignment of the road to the new bridge.

The isolated location of the bridge brought with it some challenges for project partners NZTA and Fulton Hogan, who were jointly responsible for monitoring the weather conditions, traffic flows and health and safety requirements on site. Due to the travel time from Gisborne, managing these tasks effectively was inefficient and expensive. On-site CCTV was proposed to enable remote monitoring, but the site lacked power and network connectivity. Datacom was challenged to find a way for staff to monitor the site from their offices, reducing the need for long trips or overnight stays.

The Datacom Difference

A crew from Datacom braved hostile weather conditions and wind gusts working at height, to install solar-powered CCTV equipment at just the right elevation to maximise available sunlight to enable cameras to run off solar power and provide 24/7 CCTV coverage even in the dark winter months. The solution also provided a satellite link from the camera to the Fulton Hogan corporate network so footage from the site could be viewed and recorded from anywhere with an internet connection.

Results

The financial benefits of Datacom's CCTV solution were significant. Fulton Hogan reported the remote monitoring reduced site visits to just twice a week rather than daily, saving an estimated $900,000 in travel and labour over 18 months.

"The solar CCTV solution provided both Fulton Hogan and NZTA with visibility of the site without staff having to be there physically, saving time and money," says Rick Gardner, Contracting Divisional Manager at Fulton Hogan.

"The CCTV system was also reliable and easy to use, providing valuable site information at the click of a mouse."

Both Fulton Hogan and NZTA were given full visibility of current weather and traffic conditions without having to travel to the bridge, allowing managers to make crucial decisions on site operations from an office hours away. Free from the headache of disruptive travel, key staff were able to spend more time on essential work, speeding up the bridge replacement project and the economic benefits it will bring to the Gisborne region."