Automated Machine Guidance in Heavy Civil Construction

BasePDH  |  Course No. 005  |  3 PDH

Source: FHWA-HRT-16-031

Report No.: FHWA-HRT-16-031
Title: Automated Machine Guidance in Heavy Civil Construction
Publisher: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), U.S. Department of Transportation
Date: February 2018

**Publication No. FHWA-HRT-16-031 | February 2018** **U.S. Department of Transportation — Federal Highway Administration**

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Chapter 1. Introduction

While no State transportation department has fully implemented an integrated automation technology solution programmatically, there are several examples of mature project-level implementations throughout the United States that form the backdrop for the guidance developed in this report. There was not an attempt to capture a nationwide perspective in this report. Instead, a collection of noteworthy practices gleaned as part of a number of in-motion parallel efforts were collected, including the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Every Day Counts (EDC) technology deployment outreach, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Domestic Scan Program, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program research on automated technologies, and State and regional conferences.(2) Documented sources of notable practice were sought to provide illustrative guidance and guide specifications including survey, design and computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) manuals, construction specifications, special provisions and special notes, construction manuals, training materials, conference proceedings, and implementation documents.

There are examples of projects that have taken an integrated approach to leverage a shared three-dimensional (3D) digital dataset for automating a range of highway construction applications like automated machine guidance (AMG), construction layout, and real-time field verification to accept completed work. These projects shared the cost of creating and maintaining the necessary data while realizing the full benefit of each individual automation application. The vision for automation in highway construction is that the necessary 3D engineered data can be shared among and across a multitude of automation technology uses that are applicable to each project. These automation technologies may include remote sensing survey techniques such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR), uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), 3D model-based design, four-dimensional (4D) and five-dimensional (5D) construction simulation, subsurface utility location technologies, AMG construction, electronic construction documents accessed via mobile devices (a part of e-Construction), and non-destructive methods for measuring and accepting construction (e.g., including ground-penetrating radar, paver-mounted thermal profiler, intelligent compaction, and real-time field verification with location-aware survey instruments).(4)

Objective

The objectives of this project were to address challenges and opportunities identified for automation in highway construction from project development through construction and to develop guidance for State transportation departments to assist them in determining how best to use automation to improve effective and accelerated project delivery. Some automation applications may warrant programmatic implementation, while others may warrant use on a project-by-project basis. The study involved collecting, organizing, and analyzing data from various State transportation departments and other facility owners using automation technology.

Part I of this study relays implementation and success stories from transportation agencies on the use of automation.(1) This report, which is Part II of this study, provides design guidance and accompanying guide specifications for highway agencies to successfully implement automation in highway construction. The guidance covers how to generate 3D digital design data for downstream uses in construction as well as provides information on how to manage the use of these data in construction.

Scope

The scope of this report does not imply a positive return on investment for implementing automation technology on all projects regardless of type, size, and range of construction activities. Further research is being conducted to make value judgements on where automation in highway construction is beneficial. This guidance is intended to be used after the decision to implement automation technology has been made. The scope is built on the premise that to be able to optimally use automation during the construction phase of a highway project, preparation begins during the planning, surveying, and design phases.

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Chapter 2. Development of Automation Technology Guidelines

The rapidly evolving nature of technology advancements makes it an enormous task for implementing agencies to update standards, policies, and specifications and train their personnel to accommodate new technologies. The solution and challenge that implementing agencies must grapple with is to introduce agnostic, performance-based guidelines that are sufficiently flexible to adapt to change. This is a significant undertaking.