Have you ever tried to unravel a tangled mess of cords or wires? No matter how carefully you trace the knot, it's hard to determine where it starts and ends. This challenge mirrors the complexities faced in construction and project management. Keeping track of all your subcontractors and trades can be overwhelming, especially when tasks require a strict sequence — for example, ensuring MEP work is completed before HVAC installation and roofing.
By partnering with GPRS through the JobSite Plus program, you bring in a single trusted company to handle all on-site needs: utility locating, concrete scanning, pipe inspection, 3D laser scanning, and the creation of cutting-edge CAD drawings, maps, and models tailored to your project. GPRS' JobSite Plus Program is designed to meet your specific requirements by leveraging advanced technology to scan and map underground utilities before construction begins, greatly improving the project's success. So, what are the benefits of early site scanning? What role does SiteMap® (patent pending), powered by GPRS, play? And how do these components enhance the efficiency of the JobSite Plus Program?
The Importance of Early Subsurface Scanning
Early subsurface scanning has become an essential step in modern construction practices. This process uses cutting-edge technology to detect and map underground utilities before breaking ground. The proactive nature of early scanning offers numerous significant advantages. Chief among these is enhanced safety. Construction sites often conceal hidden dangers like gas lines, electrical cables, and water pipes. Accidentally striking any of these can lead to serious injuries, project delays, or even fatalities. By pinpointing the exact locations of these underground utilities before any excavation begins, early scanning dramatically reduces the risk of accidents, creating a safer work environment for everyone involved.
In addition to improving safety, early scanning helps to structure the project lifecycle in a way that boosts efficiency. Having detailed knowledge of the subsurface conditions allows for more accurate and effective project planning. Engineers and project managers can design construction strategies that avoid conflicts with underground utilities, thereby streamlining the entire construction process. This level of foresight helps to prevent unforeseen delays and issues, ultimately saving both time and resources.
Since the JobSite Plus Program requires clients to utilize GPRS for data capture services, all information is organized and streamlined to maximize efficiency and workflow management. Early scanning, facilitated by JobSite Plus and GPRS, can enhance project flow, budget management, and timelines, making the entire process smoother and more manageable.
Explaining JobSite Plus
The GPRS Job Site Plus Program is crafted to deliver a full suite of services, ensuring that construction projects begin with a robust foundation. By leveraging GPRS's expertise and state-of-the-art technology, this program provides precise and dependable subsurface data.
The JobSite Plus Program includes a variety of services, such as:
- Subsurface Utility Locating: This service involves identifying and mapping site utilities using advanced techniques and technologies. GPRS's mission is to Intelligently Visualize The Built World®. We offer comprehensive mapping of both aboveground and underground facilities and infrastructure, serving industries like construction, facility management, engineering, architecture, and manufacturing. Our offerings include accurate 3D BIM models, utility locating and concrete imaging with over 99.8% accuracy using GPR, NASSCO-certified Video Pipe Inspection (CCTV) reports, 2D CAD drawings and floor plans through FLRPLN, Conceptual Site Models (CSM), 3D construction progress reporting via ProCap, and 3D virtual tours with WalkThru 3D.
- Concrete Scanning: This service detects embedded objects within concrete structures, such as rebar, post-tension cables, conduits, and potential voids. Concrete scanning is essential for projects involving modifications to existing structures, ensuring that new work doesn't compromise the building's integrity.
- 3D Laser Scanning: Utilizing this advanced technology, GPRS captures detailed 3D images of structural elements with 2-4mm precision. It can be combined with GPR and electromagnetic imaging to map the subsurface environment, offering a comprehensive view of the site's underground utilities. 3D laser scanning is especially valuable for complex projects requiring highly accurate data for planning and execution.
SiteMap®: A Powerful Tool Backed by GPRS
A noteworthy addition to GPRS and the JobSite Plus Program is SiteMap®, an advanced visualization service that plays a pivotal role in early site scanning. Powered by GPRS's expertise, SiteMap® offers a suite of features that enhance the effectiveness of GPRS's data capture and mapping services. It provides users with an intuitive way to interact with facility and location data. Furthermore, SiteMap® serves as a digital storage platform for all your existing conditions documentation, including blueprints, as-built drawings, maintenance records, and permits. Whether managing a single building or multiple facilities across the U.S., SiteMap® offers a unified view of all your information, delivering numerous benefits such as:
Interactive Underground Utility Maps
SiteMap® features a layered, interactive underground utility map that provides detailed, accessible data about the subsurface environment. This tool allows construction teams to precisely plan their activities by accessing information on the location and depth of utilities. The user-friendly map lets you toggle lines on or off, drill down into specifics like tie-ins and manholes, and is easily accessible to project managers, engineers, and field teams, ensuring everyone is aligned. Every GPRS utility locating customer receives a complimentary SiteMap® Personal subscription, granting 24/7 access to their data from anywhere, often within minutes of finalizing the field locate.
Accurate Visualizations
The precision of SiteMap® is vital for the success of any construction project. It intelligently visualizes and delivers your GPRS data with the trusted 99.8%+ accuracy rate that GPRS clients depend on. This level of accuracy helps prevent utility strikes and ensures that construction activities are conducted safely and efficiently. By offering a clear and accurate underground utilities map of your site, SiteMap® significantly enhances the overall quality of the project.
Seamless Integration
SiteMap®’s GIS platform integrates seamlessly with GPRS and the JobSite Plus Program, offering exceptional data portability with any existing GIS platform you may use, while also supporting user-uploaded data, photos, as-builts, and more. This provides a comprehensive solution for subsurface scanning and utility mapping. The integration and portability ensure that every aspect of the project is covered, from initial planning to final execution. By combining SiteMap®’s capabilities with GPRS’s expertise, the JobSite Plus Program delivers outstanding service and results.
Easy Updates
Given the dynamic nature of construction projects, adjustments based on new information are often necessary. SiteMap® offers secure, easy-to-access progress updates, depending on the products you choose, ensuring that your team and stakeholders have the latest data, whether on-site or across the country. This feature is particularly valuable in fast-paced construction environments where timely information is crucial for informed decision-making. Regular construction progress updates within SiteMap® help maintain momentum and prevent delays. Additionally, SiteMap® is user-friendly and accessible from your favorite device, anywhere, anytime.
Benefits of the JobSite Plus Program and Early Scanning
GPRS and their JobSite Plus Program, with its emphasis on early subsurface scanning, offer numerous benefits that contribute to the success of construction projects.
Enhanced Safety
Safety is paramount in construction, and it’s a core focus for GPRS. Our JobSite Plus Program is designed with this priority in mind. Through this program, we enable early scanning by having greater control over the sequence of services. By identifying and mapping underground utilities before construction begins, we can significantly reduce the risk of accidents and injuries. This proactive strategy ensures that construction sites are safer for workers and minimizes the potential for costly and dangerous utility strikes.
GPRS's commitment to safety begins with our elite training programs. Our Project Managers are not only trained in Subsurface Investigation Methodology (SIM), the industry’s most stringent educational standard, but they also undergo comprehensive safety training, which includes:
- OSHA 10
- OSHA 30
- HAZWOPER 40 HOUR
- Monthly hazard recognition and safety training
- Toolbox talks
- Near miss/incident reporting and investigations
- Site-specific safety training and planning
- Pre-task and job reviews for every project
- New hire safety training and orientation
- Regular safety manual reviews and updates
Improved Efficiency
Efficiency is another major advantage of the Job Site Plus Program. When GPRS manages your critical services, we can customize our data capture to align with your workflow needs while also taking steps to enhance efficiency, which often involves early scanning. Early scanning and precise utility mapping allow construction teams to plan their activities more effectively. With a clear understanding of the subsurface environment, project managers can develop construction plans that avoid conflicts with underground utilities. This foresight streamlines the construction process and helps prevent delays.
Cost Savings
JobSite Plus provides complete transparency in your costs, eliminating unexpected price increases, delays, or inaccuracies that often arise when working with multiple subcontractors. Unexpected encounters with underground utilities can cause substantial financial setbacks. GPRS helps mitigate these risks by delivering precise and dependable data, which can be utilized for SiteMap® utility mapping. By avoiding utility strikes and preventing costly repairs, the program ensures that your projects remain on budget and are completed on schedule.
Environmental Responsibility & EST
In 2019, approximately 11% of global primary energy was generated from renewable technologies. While this progress is encouraging, the intensifying climate challenges indicate that more action is needed. Protecting the environment is a crucial aspect of modern construction and various other industries. Early scanning and accurate mapping play a significant role in reducing the ecological impact of construction activities. By avoiding unnecessary excavation and preserving natural habitats, JobSite Plus supports sustainable and environmentally responsible construction practices.
The GPRS Job Site Plus Program, enhanced by SiteMap®, helps streamline and optimize your construction processes. By prioritizing early subsurface scanning and delivering accurate utility mapping services, the program provides you with control that boosts safety, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and environmental responsibility in construction projects. SiteMap® ensures that construction teams have access to top-tier digital deliverables, tools, and data, empowering them to plan and execute projects with confidence and precision.
JobSite Plus and GPRS eliminate the uncertainty in an already complex field. By leveraging advanced technology and expertise, GPRS, SiteMap®, and the JobSite Plus Program enhance efficiency, safety, and overall success. Early scanning is key, allowing the order of operations to flow more efficiently and systematically for greater project success.
Contact GPRS today to learn how JobSite Plus and early scanning can make a significant difference in your next project.
