Evolving Technology in the Heavy Civil Construction Industry

Heavy civil construction, or the construction of large-scale transportation infrastructure such as roads and bridges, isn’t usually top of mind when it comes to technology-savvy industries. With expensive equipment to maintain and rigid schedules to keep, it can be difficult for companies to find the time and money to invest in lengthy adoption processes. “We have to be looking at the global view of our projects—our margins aren’t the same as in other industries,” says John Astfalk, the CIO at S&B USA, a Pittsburgh-based developer and builder of infrastructure. He explains that there isn’t much wiggle room for trial and error, and that companies tend to prefer to wait for technology to work out its hiccups before integrating it into their everyday processes.

Despite initial onboarding challenges, technology is still making waves in construction. According to Astfalk, this adoption is following two major trends: 1) web-based platforms and 2) data-driven decisions. The successful integration of technology into construction relies on efficiency. Whether that means streamlining tasks, improving processes, or collecting data to make decisions, “everything goes back to efficiency,” says Astfalk.

Below, you can take a peek at a few of the major ways the construction industry is integrating technology to improve efficiency:

Building Better Bids: 3D Modeling and 4D Scheduling

Vertical construction, or the construction of buildings, began exploring the uses of 3D models and 4D schedules several years ago, but it took some time for the tools to work their way over to the heavy civil side. However, recent trials have found that 3D models and 4D schedules can provide significant benefits when applied to the project bidding process. “4D scheduling brings in time as the fourth dimension, which provides us with a clear visual of how a project is going to be constructed, if there are any conflicts between the work, and if there will be any risks we should be concerned about,” says Abdul Alariki, Director of Scheduling at S&B USA. 

These findings are valuable, as they can then be visually presented to the project’s owner to demonstrate how construction will proceed, like S&B USA—along with their joint venture (JV) partners, Trumbull Corp. and Wagman Heavy Civil, Inc.—did for the Long Bridge South Package. This massive project is delivering rail and pedestrian bridges over the Potomac River to the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. The presentation let the owner see the proposed methods and phases of construction needed to build the two bridges in a tight urban setting, and it ultimately helped the JV secure the project.

Currently, 4D schedules are created by taking a 3D model—which is either provided by the owner or created from the owner’s 2D plans—and combining it with a schedule. “Once the model and the schedule have been tied together,” says Jay Yusko, a Project Controls Manager at S&B USA, “you now have the ability to graphically display 3D elements through time.”

Technology is the foundation of innovation, and S&B USA plans to continue to remain on the front lines of both as they continue to embrace the evolution of the construction industry.

Yusko has a background in computer-aided drafting (CAD): “I started out with a degree in CAD right after high school, later earning a degree in civil engineering, followed by a master’s in engineering management. As my career has developed, I’ve been surprised and grateful to see how these different areas of study are working together in ways I never anticipated.”

The knowledge and skills Yusko developed from learning CAD are opening possibilities and doors to a more involved role in the company, which seems to be a trend for tech-savvy skills. 

“The future is wide open,” says Jason Tosi, the Construction Technology Coordinator at S&B USA. “It’s a good field to get into if you’re a young person. It doesn’t matter if you’re into writing code, interacting with CAD or design, or if you’re brand-new to all of it. Technology is constantly evolving; you can learn it at any time, and the market is going to reflect that as far as job opportunities in the future.”

Yusko agrees. He can already see the need for new roles to address the increasing integration of 3D and 4D technology into day-to-day operations. “There’ll be plenty of new jobs: CAD drafters, schedulers, and 3D modelers.”

Drone Technology Ushers in a New Age of Surveying

Drone technology has come a long way over the past several years. As both battery life and photo quality continue to improve, drones have become a valuable tool in the field—especially when it comes to surveying.

Traditionally, surveying is completed by setting up a base station and utilizing a global positioning systems (GPS) rover. The surveyor walks the entirety of the project site and places a rod in the ground to check the elevation, taking survey shots every 25 – 50 feet. This process is time-consuming, often taking days to complete in full. With drones, surveying has been cut down to around two to three hours of work.

“The most valuable thing we get out of the drone flights is a live surface, or a surface of the terrain during the drone’s flight,” says Joe Martincic, Construction Technology Engineer and drone pilot at S&B USA. After he has the terrain, Martincic is able to manipulate the live surface to create a model of whatever structures are needed on a project: “Basically, it allows us to look at what activities we’re planning to perform and make sure they’ll actually work.”

This is done by sending the drone up to an altitude of 0 – 400 feet above ground level, which captures pictures and data across the jobsite. These pictures can then be post-processed, which creates a 3D point every 1 – 2 centimeters, allowing for the development of an accurate 2D and 3D model of project. Design plans and surfaces can be overlaid with the map to accurately show excavation levels, location of utilities, and other important project landmarks. This map is then utilized by both office and field supervisors alike, who can use their iPads to perform quick measurements, as well as recognize potential design flaws.

“The most valuable thing we get out of the drone flights is a live surface, or a surface of the terrain during the drone’s flight,” says Joe Martincic, Construction Technology Engineer and drone pilot at S&B USA.

These maps are also compatible with some of the construction equipment S&B USA has onsite: “We have three Komatsu machines,” says Tosi. “Specialized GPS technology integrated into both their hardware and software allows the machine to map the excavation as it progresses. This information can be merged with drone flight point cloud to provide updated day-by-day as-builts, which can be used for daily quantity tracking and updated site conditions between drone flights.” The excavators also allow remote login, which lets the construction technology team log in to see exactly what the operators are looking at and offer support in real time. “It’s really been a game changer for how we can support the field,” says Tosi.

S&B USA started using drone technology around five to eight years ago, but with the advancements in real-time kinematic and post-processing kinematic technology, more frequent drone flights at the Beaver River Bridge Replacement—a project building dual cast-in-place segmental bridges for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) over in Beaver County—became practical. With over 1.8 million cubic yards of excavation, the Beaver project team decided to set aside resources for the technology and training certification program needed for drone surveying, as they believed it would help save the PTC money and keep track of the excavation and backfill process more accurately. 

Not only did this prove true, but Martincic also began traveling to S&B USA’s other active projects to perform surveying there as well: “The big jobs are flown bi-weekly, while some of the smaller projects are only flown periodically. Every job is different; it all depends on what they need.”

New Markets: the Rise of the Data Center

As AI becomes increasingly ingrained into existing technology, the country is beginning to experience a data center gold rush. These data centers will house the infrastructure needed to support AI applications and services, and their demand is creating a new frontier of infrastructure construction.

Several data center developers have expressed their interest in the Western Pennsylvania region as a potential area of settlement, and they’re looking for three things as they start putting shovels in the ground: speed, sustainability, and safety.

From the bolts down, this work is very similar to other kinds of work S&B USA is familiar with. “We already do mass excavation, subgrade, structural foundation, utilities, and drainage,” says Jason Esser, SVP of Major Projects and Project Services at S&B USA. “Beyond that, the key is forming strategic partnerships with the appropriate developers, engineering, and construction firms to perform the vertical work.”

To prepare a site for a data center, mass excavation is key. “There’s going to be a lot of critical subsurface utility and drainage work in a project like this,” Esser says, comparing it to S&B USA’s work at the New Shell Plant. For Shell, S&B USA performed over 2 million cubic yards of earthwork and installed 75,000 linear feet of drainage, which helped prepare the site for Shell’s new ethylene cracker plant. This project won multiple safety awards, and the owners were consistently impressed with the company’s ability to deliver quality workmanship and meet schedules. S&B USA’s mass excavation competencies, especially at the New Shell Plant, are supported by the integration of GPS and universal total stations (UTS) software into upwards of 70% of their bulldozers, excavators, and graders.

“We already do mass excavation, subgrade, structural foundation, utilities, and drainage,” says Jason Esser, SVP of Major Projects and Project Services at S&B USA. “Beyond that, the key is forming strategic partnerships with the appropriate developers, engineering, and construction firms to perform the vertical work.”

Mass excavation must be executed with precision and urgency, as speed to market is critical in data center delivery. They want to be up and running between 12 to 18 months, which is an extremely fast turnaround.

Historically, most infrastructure construction projects are delivered through a method called design-bid-build. For these projects, the owner has typically already worked with a designer to come up with schematics for the structure they’re looking to build. After they’ve done this, the owner then asks construction companies to estimate how much the design would cost to build. This is solely based on price. As long as the bidding company meets a few basic requirements, the lowest estimate wins.

Since there is little communication between the designer and construction companies prior to actually winning these jobs, this process can take a while—too long to deliver the turnaround data center owners are looking for. Instead, they’ll be delivering these projects through “alternative delivery” methods.

Alternative delivery is interesting in the sense that it allows designers and contractors to collaborate. There are several different types of alternative delivery, which Scott Rhine, VP and Director of Alternative Delivery at S&B USA, has broken down in a comprehensive overview available on the company’s website. That aside, what every alternative delivery method has in common is that the designer and construction companies work together to propose a solution to the owner’s problem, allowing all sides to voice concerns about the design’s constructability and introduce cost-effective measures before construction begins—but most importantly, it shortens the timeline. Several of S&B USA’s current projects are being delivered using alternative delivery methods, including the Long Bridge South Package, MPA First Street Box Culvert, Howard Street Tunnel, North Avenue Bridge, and I-64 and I-464 Ramp Improvements.

The Bigger Picture

The integration of technology into any industry is an ongoing process. While technology cannot offer a one-size-fits-all solution, it can make the day-to-day just a little bit easier and help free up time that enables employees to perform other, more valuable tasks.

This is especially vital in an industry facing a workforce disparity in the upcoming years. When older generations start to retire, technology can help ease the transition of the younger generations on their way in. “Advancements in machine guidance really help catch newer operators up to speed,” says Tosi. It takes a lot of skill to operate the larger equipment on a project site, but the GPS and UTS technology ingrained into the systems of heavy equipment nowadays can help bridge the gap between operators with different levels of experience.

Additionally, the construction industry has been exploring where AI comes into play. Currently, S&B USA is looking into AI-powered search capabilities similar to generative pre-training transformer (GPT) models, enabling users to ask natural language questions and instantly retrieve insights from historical project data. They’re also using AI to connect some of the previously outlined technologies, such as using data from drone surveillance flights to create 3D and 4D models. “Eventually, we’re hoping it will be able to update the schedule based on what it’s seeing and the project’s percentage of completion,” says Martincic. These items are still in the experimental phase, but the future looks promising.

Technology is the foundation of innovation, and S&B USA plans to continue to remain on the front lines of both as they continue to embrace the evolution of the construction industry.