Project Overview
Achieving Balance
As with any project the size of Russell Ranch, even a minor error in the bulk/shrink coefficient estimate leads to shortages or excesses that end up causing schedule delays and putting the project over budget, often significantly. Getting the most accurate information in a cost-effective and timely manner is essential
to the success of a development project such as Russell Ranch.
The Old Way
- A hand-rendered topographic map is expensive (at around$3,200), takes about a week to complete, and the information delivered may be inaccurate. Moreover, the landscape in a one-week timeframe can be dynamic, so the map has the potential to be outdated by the time it is delivered.
- An aerial topographic map is significantly more expensive
(up to $15,000) and often more time-consuming given the need
to schedule flyovers and process large amounts of data. Limitations in regards to this method of mapping include potential deviations that can significantly affect volume calculations, which in turn may lead to construction delays
and additional expense.
"We were concerned about balance because of the blasting and swell that the rock may be generating. Every week with TraceAir, we could see if it was swelling, see what the assumptions were the previous week and where we were landing the following week."
— Mark Stacy, Vice President, The New Home Company
Project Details
Project Team
Developer: The New Home Company
Grading Contractor: Independent Construction Company
Paving Contractor: Teichert Construction
Project Managers:
Mark Stacy, VP of Forward Planning & Land Development, The New Home Company
Ben Rau, Principal at Verux, Grading Consultant to the Developer Ron Nooteboom, VP Operations, Independent Construction Co.
Mark Chaddock, Project Manager, Independent Construction Co. Paul Holton, Field Superintendent, Independent Construction Co.
Jeff Nooteboom, Foreman, Independent Construction Co.
Grading Schedule
Start Date:
May 15, 2018
Completion Date:
Scheduled – Early 2019
Actual – December 16, 2018
Time-frame:
8 months
"A schedule is money. An extra week is an extra week of cost. With TraceAir, we were always ahead of schedule."
— Mark Stacy, Vice President, The New Home Company
TraceAir’s Site Balance Advanced Technology
TraceAir’s technology is tested and proven to provide the most accurate and cost-effective topographic maps available.
TraceAir’s maps are:
- Created in less than 24 hours
- 3D, digital and full color
- Accurate to ~0.10ft
- 1/4th of the cost of a hand map
- 1/10th of the cost of an aerial map
- Flexible and can be updated regularly and often
during the grading process
"TraceAir is a great planning and strategy tool for the contractor. It allowed them to look back, see balance issues, and fix them early."
— Ben Rau, Principal at Verux
TraceAir Makes the Grade
The timeframe for grading the 2M yd³ site was eight months. Having real-time, accurate data for precise balancing saved a significant amount of time and money given that the need to import/export was vastly reduced.
Here’s why:
- The balancing challenges included swell from blasting and about 70K yd³ of rock.
- The contractor was also able to leave the correct thickness of dirt blastmat to prevent fly rock.
- The project was initially balanced on a 12% swell based on information gathered the prior year
when the entrance road was built.
- The swell ended up closer to 7% or 8%, and the shortage was caught over six weeks before
the target completion for the job, which enabled the contractor to move the exact amount
of dirt from the borrow site at the exact right time (before the road between the sites was paved).
- 40K yd³ of virgin rock was hauled off site, and dirt was hauled back into the site, while simultaneously observing for swell.
- The contractor was able to better plan haul routes to keep time and costs at a minimum.
- Real-time data saved the team time and money by catching and fixing balance issues that if not caught promptly, may have resulted in the need to haul 50K extra yd³ of dirt across the paved road, meaning about $500,000 of extra cost (50K yd³ * $10/yd³).
Every week, with TraceAir, the grading contractor could track the swelling, consider the prior week’s assumptions, project the next week’s swell, and communicate results to the developer. In the end,
the grading project was completed within 5K yd³ “short” (to be filled with spoils) for a 2M yd³ project.
"The Russell Ranch job was consistent and flawless with TraceAir. The planning application is exceptional. The team knows where they’re going and move in unison. It has also helped our relationship with the developer."
— Ron Nooteboom, Vice President, Operations, Independent Construction
There’s More to TraceAir Than Meets the Sky
With TraceAir, it’s more than delivering accurate information in a cost-effective manner.
The far-reaching benefits for a project are:
- Staying on or ahead of schedule
- Jobs are completed on or under budget
- Data is accurate and up to date within 24 hours of capture
- Managers can make the best decisions backed with real-time data
- Eliminates the stress of guessworkCuts are made with confidence
- Removes the need to travel to the site to check grading progress
- Team members can communicate over the phone using TraceAir
- Clear visuals make it easy for everyone to see what needs to be or has been completed
- Questions can be answered with a screenshot
- Transparency and trust develop between team members
"I looked forward to coming in each morning to look at TraceAir to look at the quantities, what’s left where, and where the next move is."
— Jeff Nooteboom, Foreman, Independent Construction
