Reporter 64

The Global Magazine of Leica Geosystems

64

2 | Reporter

Dear Readers,

In June, for the first time ever, Leica Geosystems and

all its Hexagon partner companies will be holding

an international conference: “Hexagon 2011” will be

held in Orlando, Florida, from 6. – 9. June. Customers

and visitors will gain insights into projects, products,

and solutions of Leica Geosystems and many other

well-known brands such as Erdas, Intergraph, Z/I

Imaging, and Hexagon Metrology. We expect more

than 2,000 users to come see industry trends, learn

about using our solutions, join training sessions, test

new products, and grow their network under the

motto “Building a smarter world”.

This edition of Reporter highlights just how our

customers already put this motto into practice and

shape our world: the expansion of the Panama Canal,

one of the greatest civil engineering projects ever

undertaken, and scientific research on the Swiss

Macun glacier are just two such examples. Our cus-

tomers show us how they assist emergency man-

agement efforts in the articles about the red mud

disaster in Hungary, the flooding in Australia, and the

power station accident in Russia. On the other side

are those more enjoyable applications that help pre-

serve our cultural and historical heritage for coming

generations, such as work at the Piusa caves, shown

on the cover, and on “Mighty Mo”, the decommis-

sioned battleship USS Missouri.

As you can see, together with our customers – who

continue to share their interesting projects with us

and send in their contributions – we’ve once again

put together a Reporter packed with fascinating

applications and creative solutions. I hope you enjoy

reading it and I look forward to seeing you in Orlando

in June.

Juergen Dold

CEO Leica Geosystems

Editorial

Imprint

Reporter: Leica Geosystems customer magazine

Published by: Leica Geosystems AG, CH-9435 Heerbrugg

Editorial office: Leica Geosystems AG,

9435 Heerbrugg, Switzerland, Phone +41 71 727 34 08,

[email protected]

Contents responsible: Alessandra Doëll

(Director Communications)

Editor: Agnes Zeiner, Konrad Saal

Publication details: The Reporter is published in English,

German, French, Spanish and Russian, twice a year.

Reprints and translations, including excerpts, are subject to

the editor’s prior permission in writing.

© Leica Geosystems AG, Heerbrugg (Switzerland),

May 2011. Printed in Switzerland

CO

NTEN

TS Mighty Mo's Last Journey

Virtual Caves

Corn Field Mazewith GPS Accuracy

Winning Partnership with Leica SmartNet

A Tropical GNSS Network

Building the Canalof the 21st Century

Leica TS30 Measures Lifting Cranes

Scanning of Swiss Rock Glacier

Rapid Help for Flood Victims

Floating Masterpieces

Accident Investigationat Russian Power Station

The Red Flood

Precision for Space Tourists

Leica Geosystems SupportsMongolian Mining Research

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The Global Magazine of Leica Geosystems | 3

by Mark Evangelista

When the USS Missouri was decommissioned

on March 31st, 1992, the 887-foot-long Iowa-

class battleship looked tired. Her worn and

pitted teak deck had supported thousands of

naval officers and their crews. The 1998 trans-

fer of “Mighty Mo” to the nonprofit USS Mis-

souri Memorial Association of Honolulu, Hawaii,

spawned a new career for the historic battle-

ship as a World War II museum next to the USS

Arizona on Pearl Harbor’s Battleship Row. But

the directors had an even bigger vision in mind

– one that involved repairing and preserving the

battleship for generations to come.

That vision was realized in October 2009, when the

Missouri was moved to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard’s

largest dry-dock facility for a three-month preserva-

tion project. “Having the Battleship Missouri in dry

dock provided a unique opportunity to completely

scan the ship while it was out of the water,” said

Michael A. Carr, president and CEO of the USS Mis-

souri Memorial Association. “It was an opportunity

we will not see again for decades and certainly one

we did not want to miss.”

A month before the preservation project began, Carr

and other association directors met Richard Lasater,

president of Smart GeoMetrics, a division of Hous-

ton-based Smart MultiMedia, at the Historic Naval

Mighty Mo's Last Journey

4 | Reporter

Ships Association conference in Alabama. The laser-

scanning firm had captured portions of the interior

of another historic battleship, the USS Texas BB-35,

earlier in the year, and Lasater was eager to demon-

strate the results.

After seeing the photographic panoramas and

video flythroughs, the association directors were

impressed. The technology offered the potential to

improve the overall visitor experience at the muse-

um. If they didn’t act then, they probably wouldn’t

have the chance in the future.

“There is no way to complete an accurate scan of

an entire ship while it is in the water,” Lasater said.

“Not only is it impossible to image areas below the

waterline, even on a calm day, the tiniest movements

of the water and ship degrade scan accuracy.”

The budget for the preservation project was already

set, but the association directors decided they had

to make the documentation project work. Through

an extraordinary amount of teamwork, the project

was funded at a level that was acceptable to all par-

ticipants, and Smart GeoMetrics began honing its

strategy.

Fast-Tracked Documentation

The documentation effort would be the last part of

the preservation project before the Missouri was

returned to her home on Battleship Row. Smart Geo-

Metrics and its team would have a four-day window

to scan the vessel after scaffolding and protective

covers were removed. The massive endeavor would

require three scanning crews, each equipped with a

Leica HDS laser scanner, to complete the project. A

fourth additional crew was assigned to create and

maintain the survey control network. “The Missouri

is a very, very big ship, and we only had four days

to complete an estimated 14 days worth of work

among an army of shipyard workers,” Lasater said.

“The ship’s location in Hawaii also made logistics a

bit challenging.”

However, Smart GeoMetrics was up for the task. The

firm quickly assembled a team of HDS professionals

A Lasting Legacy

The battleship scans generated billions of data

points that the team began processing into point

clouds, CAD drawings, and 3D models immediate-

ly afterwards. The team also decided to take the

deliverables one step further by adding holograms;

a capability provided by Austin, Texas based Zebra

Imaging. It was the first time holograms would com-

prise part of an archival record.

The results of the entire documentation project will

be used by the USS Missouri Memorial Association as

a historical record and for ongoing maintenance and

educational purposes.

Find out more about Mighty Mo on the USS Missouri

Association’s website at www.ussmissouri.com.

About the author:

Mark Evangelista is a freelance writer based in Hous-

ton, Texas.


from Meridian Associates in Houston and As-Built

Modeling Services Inc. in nearby Pearland, Texas,

with Houston based Mustang Engineering Inc. pro-

viding special assistance.

The team arrived on site and established a control

network of more than 400 points. Crews then cap-

tured scans at 160 locations on and around the

ship’s exterior and took thousands of photographs

– 5,400 in all.

“The documentation teams were really moving fast

on this project, and not all of the ship was accessible

at the same time,” said Jonathan White, a senior proj-

ect manager for Meridian, who headed up one of the

scan crews. “We were working in and around dock-

yard preparations to return the ship to sea.”

The day before the USS Missouri was scheduled to

leave dry dock the scanning and photography work

was finished. The team then turned their attention

to the value side of the project – turning data into

deliverables.

6 | Reporter

Virtual Cavesby Lauri Põldre

The Piusa caves are a system of unique sand-

stone caves located in south-eastern Estonia

only a few miles from the Russian border. The

caves are the result of manual mining of glass-

sand during 1922 – 1966 and represent a sys-

tem of underground galleries with sandstone

columns and vaulted ceilings up to 10 m (30 ft)

high. Since 2006 the caves have been closed to

the public for safety reasons and only a small,

secure part can be accessed today. 3D Technolo-

gies R&D scanned the caves and created the vir-

tual caves provided at the visitor center using

new interactive technology.

The Piusa caves have become an important tourist

attraction, so the local government decided to find

a new way to preserve the caves. Furthermore, the

caves are occupied by five species of hibernating

bats. Since they became legally protected in Estonia,

they have been counted there regularly. 3D Tech-

nologies R&D, a company based in Tallinn, Estonia,

provides applications for presenting objects using

interactive 3D technology. The company has created

a solution to introduce a virtual cave system as a

three-dimensional model on a touch screen kiosk.

Before the caves were finally closed, the company

was contracted to enter them for a one-off survey.

Scanning a 20 km (12.4 mi) Tunnel

in three Days

A laser scanner had to be used to create the most

accurate three-dimensional model of the caves. Since

the caves consist of pillars they had to be scanned

one by one to reach every little corner. Compared

to conventional surveying methods the scanning of

the caves offered some unique challenges. What

made the scanning process difficult was the com-

plete darkness and low temperatures in the caves

– it remains around 5 °C (40 °F) all year round. How-

ever, scanning with a Leica HDS3000 only took three

days to complete.

After on-site scanning the point clouds were geore-

ferenced, processed, and converted to a mesh. The


point cloud was then used to create a 3D model of the

Piusa caves. In addition to the scanning, high resolu-

tion photos were taken of the caves. The point cloud

was cleaned, simplified, and triangulated before the

data was imported into the modeling software. This

tool transformed the photos so they could be draped

onto the 3D model and textures could be added.

The original and detailed 3D model was processed

with Normal Map, which brings out inscriptions and

roughness of the walls.

Interactive Real-Time 3D Model for Visitors

The caves are presented as an interactive, real-time

3D model where visitors can move around in a vir-

tual environment using a 32” touch screen. The walls

of the caves, the sandstone colors, and even the

minutest details, such as inscriptions on the sand

walls made by past visitors, can be seen on the com-

puter model. Visitors can read additional information

about the caves and can take a virtual tour inside the

caves. Some of the sculptures, which have become

cult objects, are marked as points of interest with

icons and visitors can read folk legends about them.

The upper left side of the screen shows a map of

the caves with the current location highlighted in the

virtual tour. The tour helps the public understand the

structure and nature of the underground chambers

despite the fact that they are closed. It also illus-

trates the methods of glass-sand mining during the

last century.

Preserving Heritage

3D laser scanning made it possible to preserve this

heritage site for tourism and future generations.

The visitor center has received considerable atten-

tion for this innovative approach, which offers

tourists a virtual walk through the caves with-

out disturbing the bats. The solution also helped

promote the visitor center because of its innova-

tive approach to presenting this historical site.

A short video and screen capture are available at:

http://vimeo.com/16268850.

About the author:

Lauri Põldre is Sales Manager at 3D Technologies R&D.

Interactive Applications

3D Technologies R&D was established in 2006 by

a group of skilled systems designers with the goal

of developing a platform for rendering 3D objects

in the web environment, and thereafter building a

marketable set of end-user applications based on

this platform.

The most important project has been the design and

development of 3DMLW (3D Markup Language for

Web), an Open Source platform that allows rendering

of 3D objects in real-time in a web browser or imple-

menting 3D objects in custom applications.

Based on 3DMLW, the company’s key products are

interactive applications for real-time 3D visual-

ization made for the web or touch-screen kiosks.

These applications were born from actual customers‘

demands.

Customers are museums, municipalities, companies,

and kiosk manufacturers who all benefit from their

interactive 3D solutions.

More information on the project is available at

http://www.3dtech-rd.com.

8 | Reporter

by Markus Prechtl

The Baumburg Summer of Culture opened in

August 2010 with a special attraction: the larg-

est cornfield maze in Bavaria. The local monas-

tery brewery wished to offer its guests a rich

and varied program in and around the labyrinth,

including games, concerts, night walks, corn

candlelight dinners, and helicopter tours. But

how do you create a pattern in a 113,000 m²

(28 acs) field of tall cornstalks? The event orga-

nizer, Muk Heigl, turned to the engineers at ing

Traunreut GmbH; using positioning technology

from Leica Geosystems, they mastered this far-

from-everyday task.

First, the figures and the overall pattern were

designed by a graphic artist. Using these sketches

the surveying engineers then calculated the basic

data for setting out the paths and clearings. All the

designs were scaled up and adjusted to match the

size of the cornfield and each of the paths in the

future labyrinth was digitized. The result was a true-

to-scale plan with the outlines of the proposed corn-

field maze shown as 2D polylines. The motif shows

the Baumburg coat-of-arms along with a beer glass,

beer bottle, a plate of dumplings, a Merowinger pony,

and the logo “Chiemgau – Bayerns Lächeln”. These

elements would later reveal themselves to passen-

gers on the helicopter tours.

Mower with Machine Control

As the consulting engineers don’t use machine con-

trol in their day-to-day work, they called upon Ger-

man company Scanlaser Vertriebsgesellschaft, Leica

Geosystems’ sales partner for machine control, for

help. The design would be mown into the cornfield

using a GPS system from Leica Geosystems and the

GeoROG machine control system from SBG (also part

of the Hexagon Group). To do this, the polylines had

to be converted into axes and the output prepared

in the appropriate data format using the SBG GEO

Construction software package.

After loading the mowing data there was still anoth-

er problem to be solved: the machine control com-

Corn Field Maze with GPS Accuracy

onto the small tractor and there was still room for

the system's power supply – two 12-volt car batter-

ies connected in series. They were fixed on top of

the cutter bar to bring the center of gravity down

and increase stability.

Track for Track to the Finished Maze

With the hardware ready and the software loaded

with all the data required for mowing the labyrinth,

it was time to begin. First the mower cut the shapes

of the various paths within the labyrinth. The person

steering the two-wheeled walking mower found it

was easy to mow his way precisely through the corn-

field with the help of the machine control. He orien-

tated himself on the axes shown in GeoROG and the

designs were mown relatively quickly into the corn-

field. Only the tractor's deep tire-tracks presented a

problem, as the two-wheeled walking mower always

tipped sharply to the side as soon as it crossed one.

This caused the 2.8 m (9.2 ft) high GPS antenna to be

displaced by up to a half meter, which the reliable

machine control software would of course report

to the user. To avoid distorting the contours of the

motif, the tractor operator had to anticipate this and

drive accordingly. After all the contours had been

mowed, the remaining open areas were carved out

with the mower.

The ing Traunreut GmbH engineers used a different

approach to clear the islands. As they were isolat-

ed areas that could not be reached with the two-

wheeled walking tractor, the islands were set out

using conventional GPS surveying. The polylines for

the labyrinth were loaded as DXF data into a Leica

GPS1200. The outlines of the individual islands were

determined on site and the isolated areas mowed

by hand.

During the two mowing days about one quarter of

the whole cornfield was cleared to form the paths

and open areas of labyrinth. This project shows just

how specialized machine control applications can be.

Even for an “exotic” application such as setting out a

cornfield maze, the GPS-controlled system proved to

be an innovative solution and by far the quickest way

of getting it done.

About the author:

Markus Prechtl is a surveying engineer at ing Traun-

reut GmbH.


ponents had to be mounted on a small two-wheeled

walking tiller-mower with a single cutter bar. Special

brackets were constructed for this. The machine con-

trol required very little space: the Leica PowerBox,

Leica PowerAntenna, and GeoROG fastened easily

10 | Reporter

by Daniel C. Brown

In recent years the cellular telephone network in

southern Ontario, Canada, has improved greatly.

Data can be streamed at a half-second or better

through a cellular connection, giving surveyors

the opportunity to take advantage of cell phone

technology to further utilize the capabilities

of GPS receivers. Similar to reference station

networks developing in the United States, Leica

Geosystems has set up Leica SmartNet South-

ern Ontario, a network that now covers nearly

the entire southern portion of the province.

Since 2006, this RTK GPS network has grown from

five base stations to 51, with an additional 10 to

12 more stations planned for deployment this year.

Leica Geosystems manages and maintains the net-

work and provides corrections to users, but it was

setup as a joint venture between users and Leica

Geosystems. For somewhat more than half the sta-

tions, the cost of the receiver, the cabling, the anten-

na, the high-speed Internet line, and the antenna

masts have been covered by Leica Geosystems. Pri-

vate companies within the industry have funded the

hardware and the high-speed Internet connections

for the other half of the stations. Leica SmartNet

Winning Partnership

with Leica SmartNet


An Open-World Format

In fact, Leica Geosystems has designed the system so

that most receivers on the market that are designed

for RTK applications will work with SmartNet. Leica

Geosystems has adopted an open-world type mes-

sage called RTCM3. “We put our RTCM3 out there for

anyone to take,” says Kalsi. “That being said, we can

broadcast our data in a few different ways. We have

a Leica proprietary format along with a few other

ones that we use. However, Leica Geosystems itself

has chosen RTCM3 as its standard message type for

network connectivity.”

A second reason to use RTCM3 is that it is a very

complete message type. Leica SmartNet’s use of

RTCM3 does not cut off or truncate any data that is

streamed through the network connection, thus pro-

viding full and complete corrections to the rover unit

in the field. “With the network technology we have

in place, many of our users are pushing the limits well

beyond 20 or even 30 km (12 or even 19 mi) while

still maintaining excellent results within or below RTK

tolerances,” says Kalsi.

will provide real-time positioning to more than 100

users by the end of this year, says Amar Kalsi, Leica

SmartNet administrator for Southern Ontario. Users

employ the network for cadastral surveying, con-

struction layout, topographical work, and more.

With a cellular modem users can connect to a spe-

cific IP address on the Internet, which correlates to

the Leica SmartNet server in Toronto. “Once they hit

that IP address, we authenticate them with a user

name and password,” says Kalsi. “Based on this and

the coarse position of the rover unit in the field, we

can supply the most appropriate RTK correction for

that specific user now able to work at a range of up

to 15, 20, 40, or even 50 km (9, 12, 25, or even 31 mi)

because of the cellular network.”

Today, most of the base station receivers are Leica

GRX1200 Pro GNSS, so Leica Geosystems can manage

and run the data remotely through its Leica Spider-

Net software. A GRX1200 Pro is designed as a net-

work device with Ethernet connectivity. “We essen-

tially connect directly to it like a router,” says Kalsi. >>

Leica SmartNet Southern Ontario covers nearly

all the southern portion of the province.

12 | Reporter

in some cases it is the only time they have access

to roads. “It is now understood by many customers

that Leica SmartNet is needed to get the job done,”

says Kalsi.

Excellent Repeatability

When asked what sets Leica SmartNet apart from

others, Kalsi said it is the network’s ability to repeat

points in the field. “You can go out today, work a

specific area, set your coordinates, and have full con-

fidence knowing that those coordinates will be the

same tomorrow, a week, or a year from now – well

within typical GPS tolerances. Our ability to repeat

measurements within Leica SmartNet is unsur-

passed.”

Leica Geosystems has upgraded nearly all the sta-

tions in SmartNet Southern Ontario to full GNSS

capability, which includes GPS and GLONASS satel-

lites as well as other constellations that will become

available in the future.

About the author:

Daniel C. Brown is the owner of TechniComm, a com-

munications business based in Des Plaines, Illinois/

USA.

SmartNet is available 24/7 and is seeing a high rate

of usage, including on weekends. Especially high-

way construction users use the system then, since

Surveying for Wind Turbines

Total Tech Surveying Inc. mainly does construction

layouts with some legal surveying and pre-engineer-

ing surveys added in. The firm hosts a reference sta-

tion within SmartNet, and recently used SmartNet

to lay out the sites for 24 wind turbines located in

southwest Ontario. “As soon as you get out of your

vehicle, you are off and surveying within about five

minutes,” says Bloss J. Sutherland, OLS, treasurer of

Total Tech Survey Inc., Essex, Ontario.

“With the old system, you had to set up a base sta-

tion and radio transmitter and then use your Leica

GPS unit as a rover. Just to set up the base station,

then set up your rover and start the survey, would

add anywhere from half an hour to an hour to the

job.” Sutherland said the wind turbine survey took

just four weeks, and would have taken eight weeks

if the firm had needed to set up a temporary base

station for every turbine.

The work included a topographic map survey of a

main 5 km (3 mi) road, staking access roads for each

turbine, and establishing the centerline of each of

the 24 turbines.

easy to send an online post-processing computation

request to www.reseau-lela.com.

To make life easier for users, additional services are

available on the website: training videos, ready-to-

use configuration sets for Leica Geosystems GNSS

receivers, RINEX converters for Leica Geosystems

GNSS raw data, etc. The coordinates of the stations

in the network and the geoid model of La Réunion

are computed on a regular basis by the National Geo-

graphic Institute (IGN), thereby guaranteeing the reli-

ability of the results.

Example Application

For the past year, Réseau LéL@ has been used by the

French national geological service (BRGM) to moni-

tor landslides in the Cirque de Salazie (an unstable

zone in the center of the island) where annual move-

ment can reach up to 2 m (6.5 ft). Seven GNSS sen-

sors provide daily observations, automatically post-

processed by Leica Spider. BRGM can download the

results to perform their own analyses using Leica

SpiderQC. Note: Look forward to a detailed article

about this spectacular case in a future issue of

Reporter.

More information at www.precision-topo.com.

About the author:

Xavier Robert is a support engineer at Précision Topo,

Leica Geosystems’ partner in Réunion.


by Xavier Robert

Creating high-precision GNSS coverage of

Réunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean,

was an interesting challenge which led to a net-

work with short inter-station distances. The

tropical location of the island is unfavorable in

terms of ionospheric activity and a wide range of

meteorological conditions can cause tropospher-

ic variations that are challenging to manage.

In April 2006, Réseau LéL@ came to life with 6 sta-

tions and a single real-time GPS product (automatic

nearest-site method). Today, there are 8 stations,

multiple real-time GNSS products (Network RTK

MAX and nearest-single-site methods) and all Leica

SpiderWeb services are available at www.reseau-

lela.com. Administrated by Précision Topo, the local

Leica Geosystems distributor, Réseau LéL@ is used

by chartered surveyors; topographical design offic-

es; civil engineering and bathymetry firms; and local

authorities.

A Versatile Network

With an average distance of 18 km (11 mi) between

stations, LéL@ is a convenient and reliable network:

data redundancy leads to very accurate real-time

GNSS results. Real-time positioning is possible in

areas covered by mobile phone operators without

having to worry about tropospheric or ionospheric

conditions. The rest of the island is the playground

of the SpiderWeb coordinate generation service: it is

A Tropical GNSS Network

14 | Reporter

Building the Canal of the 21st Century

by Maribel Pros

The Panama Canal revolutionized sea trans-

port from the outset: it linked the Atlantic and

Pacific Oceans for the first time, permitting sig-

nificant time-savings, as ships no longer had to

go around South America and face the rough

waters of Cape Horn. With a set of new locks it

is currently being expanded to meet the needs

of modern ship traffic. Leica Geosystems is

supplying surveying instruments to the project

awardee at one of the greatest civil engineering

works ever undertaken.

The current Panama Canal design dates from 1904

and allows the passage of ships 267 m (875 ft) long

with a beam of 28 m (92 ft). The appearance of ships

known as Post Panamax, which surpass all these

measurements, rendered it small. This is why its

expansion, by construction of a new set of locks,

became necessary some time ago.

Double the Passage Capacity

Giving the canal a third set of locks is one of the

greatest civil engineering works ever undertaken.

With it, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) – a local

organization that administers the water route since

it was handed over by the United States in the year

2000 – aims to double its passage capacity, currently

calculated at 5 % of world trade.

The new locks, one set in the Atlantic and another

in the Pacific, will have three levels, 427 m (1,400 ft)

long by 55 m (180 ft) wide and 18.3 m (60 ft) deep,

with reutilization basins that will almost halve the

water used, since the whole system is supplied by

rain from the canal basin. The work will also require

building three dams. The contracting companies have

been commissioned to design the system for a ser-

vice life of at least another one hundred years.

Expansion work began on August 25, 2009, following

signing of the award agreement and having obtained

the best technical and economic rating by the Pana-

ma Canal Authority.

Big Challenges Require Best Resources

and Instruments

The Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) consortium,

the awardee of the great canal expansion project,

is led by the prestigious Spanish building company

Sacyr Vallehermoso, the Italian Impregilo concern,


Completion in Time for the Centennial

After an estimated 1,883 days of very intense work

at the highest level of technical and human demand,

the project should be completed by the end of 2014,

coinciding with the Centennial of the official opening

of the Canal. The project, valued at more than 3,200

million US Dollars (2,360 million Euro), will generate

direct employment for almost 6,000 people and indi-

rect employment for about 15,000.

About the author:

Maribel Pros is responsible for Marketing and Com-

munication at Leica Geosystems in Spain.

Jan de Nul from Belgium, and Constructora Urbana

from Panama. Knowing that successfully rising to

great technological challenges requires allies of the

highest technical, technological, and professional

capacity, GUPC chose Leica Geosystems products

and solutions to supply the surveying instrumenta-

tion necessary to carry out the project within dead-

line and budget. These were: Leica Viva GS15 and

Leica Viva GS10 GPS receivers, Leica TCRM1203+

R400 and Leica TC1203+ Total Stations, as well as

Leica NA2 levels. Moreover, Leica RoadRunner Civil

Engineering software guarantees proper data flow

and management.

GUPC fully realizes that big challenges can only be

tackled by working with the best resources and

instruments. Works of great difficulty, such as the

one in progress in Panama, require highly qualified

teams and technicians that can address any chal-

lenge, anywhere in the world.

“The local personnel

have adapted quickly to

the Leica Geosystems

equipment, particularly

because it is so

extraordinarily easy

to handle.”Jorge Barangé, Head of Topography

of Sacyr Vallehermoso

Surveying Instruments

Total Stations: Leica TCRM 1203+ R400

Leica TC1203+

GPS Receivers: Leica Viva GS15

Leica Viva GS10

Levels: Leica NA2

Software: Leica RoadRunner

Project Dates

Expansion started on August 25, 2009

Scheduled completion by end of 2014

GUPC Consortium

(Grupo Unidos por el Canal)

is made up of:

Sacyr Vallehermoso (Spain)

Impregilo (Italy)

Jan de Nul (Belgium)

Constructora Urbana (Panama)

Palfinger Lifting Crane in use on a ship.

16 | Reporter

Leica TS30 Measures Lifting Cranes

by Jozef Predan

Portable extension boom cranes made of high

strength steel are used for raising cargo on to

and off of ships and trucks, e.g. loading equip-

ment or food onto large cruise ships. Customers

demand ever-increasing lifting capacity, while

at the same time wanting the cranes to remain

lightweight, versatile, mobile, and as small as

possible when folded. Together with his stu-

dents, Professor Jozef Predan from the Faculty

of Mechanical Engineering at the University of

Maribor, Slovenia, carried out a series of tests

for the crane manufacturer Palfinger Systems

using a Leica TS30 total station.

To ensure a lifting crane meets industry standards

and to guarantee a smooth and safe operation,

crane producers such as Palfinger Systems check

each crane before delivery to the customer. Tests

include checking the supporting frame structure, the

hydraulic drives, as well as the control system. One

of these tests covers a load capacity test at nomi-

nal and increased load. Most important is that the

crane can take the load without being destroyed or

permanently deformed. The second most important

thing is the static and dynamic response of the crane

in terms of load versus deflection of the crane can-

tilever. Modern cranes are slim, as they are made

of very high strength steel, and consequently allow

large deflections. Therefore it is very important to

know the deflected shape of a crane and its dynamic

response.

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering was ap-

proached by engineers from the Palfinger Systems

assembly plant in Maribor. Together, we wanted to

find new possibilities to accurately measure cranes.

We decided to use a Leica TS30 high precision total

station to carry out the measurements. There were

two reasons for this decision: Firstly, the total sta-

tion is able to carry out very accurate measurements

The movements of the crane's arm were

measured with a Leica TS30.


Measurements such as those we carried out for

Palfinger Systems provide us with a lot of addition-

al information on mechanical systems and we can

use them for the optimization of structures, system

cybernetics, for proof of statics calculations, and

other analyses. So we hope we will be able to carry

out future projects in connection with Palfinger Sys-

tems and other manufacturers. We will certainly use

the Leica TS30 in the future; such as we currently are

for a hydro powerplant at Ðerdap in Serbia.

About the author:

Jozef Predan is a professor at the Faculty of Engineer-

ing at University of Maribor, Slovenia.

As a result of our series of tests, we could not only

provide Palfinger systems with valuable measure-

ment data, but also learned that the Leica TS30 is an

accurate enough total station for mechanical engi-

neering, and has some advantages beside its user

friendly interface. It is appropriate for the static mea-

surements of the deflection of a large number of

marked points because it measures automatically in

both faces after the first target definition. The mea-

surements were carried out quickly and accurately,

and it was not necessary to minimize the number of

measurement points, as the automatic measurement

was so fast we got a lot of useful data in a rela-

tively short time. Its ability to follow and measure the

position of the target on the crane cantilever during

movement was very useful for the dynamic tests.

The collected data of the target’s path carried infor-

mation on the crane’s cantilever maximal amplitude

and it also provided us with acceleration data, which

can be directly scaled to additional dynamic loads.

to a lot of points in a relatively short time. The sec-

ond argument for the Leica TS30 was that it could

take measurements to moving points to also get the

dynamics of the crane mounted on the ships, where

ship movement plays an important part. So, by fol-

lowing the target, we wanted to measure dynamic

responses of the crane or the structure. In the latter

case, the total station was fixed on the pier, but the

target was moving on the crane’s cantilever or on a

point of interest on the ship or the crane. From the

measurement data it was possible to calculate the

movement and corresponding velocity and accelera-

tion vectors.

We performed two different kinds of measurements

– static and dynamic. For the static measurements

we attached sixteen targets to the crane’s cantilever

and an additional three as reference points on the

workshops walls. To define the unloaded (reference)

shape of the cantilever, each target was measured

20 times in both faces. After defining the first set

of all measurement points, the 19 repetitions were

done automatically by the Leica TS30. All together

these 20 measurement-sets only took approximately

18 minutes, a very short time compared to the usu-

al manual measuring. Using the target recognition

functionality of the Leica TS30, the set of points was

also defined in very short time.

After this, the crane was loaded with 2,000 kg (4,400

lbs) weight and was lowered. The first procedure for

measuring the reference configuration was repeated

again for the deformed crane. The displacement vec-

tor for each point was calculated from the coordinate

differences of the target positions. These vectors

showed the displacement and rotation of the canti-

lever and for each boom of the crane.

The second series of measurements was designed

to determine the dynamic response of the crane by

tracking a moving target mounted on its outer end

being rapidly raised and lowered. This was made pos-

sible by the ability of the Leica TS30 to track ten

measurements per second. The system behavior was

computed from the collected target position data

over time. The two important mechanical system

parameters were determined by fitting the measure-

ment data with under-damped oscillation function,

angular frequency, and damping ratio. Additionally,

the dynamic load of the crane was executed as a

time function of acceleration.

The Leica HDS4400 for this project was provided courtesy of Leica Geosystems.

18 | Reporter

Scanning of Swiss Rock Glacierby Reinhard Gottwald, Ruedi Haller,

and Christian Schmid

Unlike ordinary glaciers, rock glaciers are not

extensive bodies of ice but mixtures of rock

debris and ice that flow down valleys at speeds

of 0.1 to 1 m (0.3 – 3.3 ft) per year. They are typi-

cal in alpine or high mountain permafrost regions

and direct conclusions about climate change can

be drawn from their movement. Investigating the

movement dynamics of rock glaciers presents a

great challenge to all the various earth science

disciplines involved. Students at the University

of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland

(FHNW) have taken on this challenge with the

help of a Leica HDS4400 long-range scanner.

The Macun rock glacier in the Swiss national park has

been regularly surveyed and analyzed since 1965.

This involves the periodic capture of a number of

discrete points using traditional surveying methods.

The annual movement of the Macun was shown to be

7 to 25 cm (3 – 10 in). On the basis of this data con-

clusive statements about the dynamics of the whole

glacier body or about localized movements can only

be made to a limited extent.

The availability of terrestrial lasers with long rang-

es (long-range terrestrial laser scanners) inspired

researchers to use this technology to capture the

movement of rock glaciers. As part of a bachelor

thesis on the Macun rock glacier at FHNW, a feasi-

bility study and an initial survey of the glacier were

Left – Point Cloud; Right – Generated Surface Model (Maptech I-Site Studio 3.3)

undertaken using a Leica HDS4400 long-range scan-

ner provided by Leica Geosystems.

An extended network was placed over the initial net-

work of points the University of Karlsruhe, Germany

had used for its total station surveys to capture gla-

cier movement. The station points were optimized

for surveying with terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) and

defined in the new Swiss terrestrial reference frames

LV95/LHN95 using the Leica SmartPole GNSS system.

After solving a few logistical problems – how to

transport 150 kg (330 lbs) of equipment over the

almost impassable survey terrain and the lack of a

power supply to name but two – the survey com-

menced: using the Leica HDS4400, all the required

glacier data was acquired in four days at the begin-

ning of August 2010.

In this initial survey twelve million points on the sur-

face of the rock glacier were captured from a total

of seven stations, then registered in a base data set,

and finally transformed into a 3D surface model.

Previous investigations had shown that, depending

on various parameters, point accuracies could be

assumed to be in the order of a few centimeters.

Subsequent deformation modeling proved that gla-

cier displacements of 14 cm (5.5 in) can be confident-

ly detected with a probability of 95 %.

A first follow-up survey – probably with a successor

system to the HDS4400 – is planned for 2012. Only

then can it really be said if the new method and all

the effort involved have paid off for geologists, geo-

morphologists, geographers, and surveyors. Some-

thing we are all very excited about!

About the authors:

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Gottwald is head of the Institute

for Surveying and Geoinformation at the University

of Applied Sciences in Northwestern Switzerland, Col-

lege for Architecture, Construction, and Geomatics in

Muttenz.

Dr. Ruedi Haller and Dipl. Ing. Christian Schmid are

manager and staff, respectively, for the spatial infor-

mation division at the Swiss National Park Authority

(SNP) in Zernez.

Source: Lerch, Th., Wüthrich, M. (2010): Bachelor the-

sis «Bewegungsmessungen am Blockgletscher Macun

mit terrestrischem Laserscanning».

The Macun Rock Glacier

The “Macun” is one of three rock glaciers within

the area administered by the Swiss National Parks

Authority (SNP). Located in Unterengadin, northwest

of Zernez, at an altitude of 2,700 m (8,850 ft) it is not

accessible by road and can only be reached by hiking

for several hours from Zernez or Lavin.

The imagery of flooded areas in

Queensland was captured with a

Leica ADS40 in 25 cm (< 10 in) resolution.

20 | Reporter

Rapid Help forFlood Victims

by Steve Gaynor and Steven Wright

Beginning in December 2010, a series of

floods affected Australia, primarily the state

of Queensland, and forced thousands of peo-

ple to evacuate their homes. Three quarters

of Queensland were declared disaster zones,

leaving 35 people dead and nine missing.

The damage to Australia’s GDP is said to be

AUD$30 billion (USD$ 31.6 billion). The Imag-

ery Collection and Exploitation (ICE) Team of

the Australian Army’s 1st Topographical Survey

Squadron used a Leica ADS40 Airborne Digi-

tal Sensor to capture imagery data of severely

flood affected communities to assist recon-

struction activities.

Throughout January and February 2011, the ICE Team

has had a watchful eye over Queensland’s flood

affected areas. The goal was to capture very accurate

flood levels for more than 100 of Queensland’s hard-

est hit communities to prepare for future events and

use the information as a tool during flood disasters.

The end result was an aerial image of the affected

areas in Queensland with an overlay showing the

flood level. Citizens have free access to these maps

on an interactive website, which is a definite first.

After being recalled at short notice in January, the ICE

Team was dispatched in support of the “Queensland

Flood Assist Operation” of the Australian Army to

provide situational awareness to reconstruction

activities in severely flood-affected communities.

The ICE Team worked in conjunction with RAAF 38

Squadron elements that operate a modified aircraft

– they captured imagery in and around Brisbane,

West to Roma, North to Gladstone, and South to

Hebel.

Although weather throughout the operation was

not conducive to effective aerial imagery capture,

the ICE Team continued to fly daily, capturing oppor-

tune targets and processing imagery around the

clock to ensure outputs were delivered on time to


Queensland State Government’s Department of

Environment and Resource Management and the

Queensland Reconstruction Authority. Both orga-

nizations will continue to exploit the imagery cap-

tured and generated by the ICE Team in assessing

and prioritizing the reconstruction efforts through-

out Queensland. In a letter of thanks Major T.J. Fran-

cis of the Australian Defence greatly appreciated

the support of Leica Geosystems: “The additional

support provided enabled imagery to be captured

and processed more efficiently for distribution to

Queensland Emergency Services.”

About the authors:

Steve Gaynor is Leica Geosystems Airborne Sensor

Segment Manager for the Australasia & South East

Asia Region.

Steven Wright is Captain of the 1st Topographical Sur-

vey Squadron of the Australian Defence.

its many customers. Imagery was captured using a

Leica ADS40 Airborne Digital Sensor. This sensor cap-

tures digital imagery and is able to generate surface

models of targeted areas of the earth’s surface. This

capability is a quantum leap ahead of previous imag-

ery capture techniques used by the Army.

The ICE Team was complimented by two Leica Sensor

Support Technicians: Jacques Markram, who flew to

Australia from the Leica Geosystems headquarters

in Heerbrugg/Switzerland, and Mal Hentschel, who

helps support all sensor systems worldwide, but is

based in the Australasia/South East Asian region.

Most units deployed as part of the “Flood Assist

Operation” ended their support in late January; but

the ICE Team continued its capture efforts until 18

February 2011, and continued the exploitation of this

imagery in the following months.

The team’s professionalism and effective use

of its assets became of particular interest to the

22 | Reporter

Floating Masterpiecesby Andreas Petrosino

Meyer Werft GmbH from Papenburg in North-

ern Germany is more than just a shipbuilder –

2,600 employees create floating masterpieces

beyond your wildest dreams in the shipyard’s

fabrication halls. Modern cruise liners demand

the highest commitment to quality. For this rea-

son the surveying team at Meyer Werft only use

instruments from Leica Geosystems.

Boston or Bosporus, Montevideo or Mallorca, Gua-

deloupe or Gothenburg – cruise ships are underway

across all the world’s seas and harbors. However,

many a sea mile travelled owes a lot to a small town

in Northern Germany. Papenburg in Emsland usu-

ally finds itself at the focus of interest only when a

new ship runs down the slipway at Meyer Werft and

moves with impressive precision along the river Ems

into the North Sea.

Harsh Working Conditions

These enormous ship fabrication halls are the tem-

porary homes of ferries and gas tankers as well as

cruise liners. New ships are put together from over

60 individual sections called blocks, which can weigh

up to 800 tons each. The quality of the connection

interfaces plays an important role in the construc-

Harsh conditions in the engine room – an everyday job for an HDS scanner from Leica Geosystems.

The contents of the instrument locker at Meyer

Werft include a Leica TDRA6000 laser station and

two Leica HDS6200 high-definition surveying (HDS)

laser scanners. All instruments are permanently in

use. Ralph Zimmermann: “The HDS scanners and

laser station together form a strong combination.

Before we begin to scan and capture point clouds,

we determine the exact position of the targets using

the Leica TDRA6000 and create a mesh. Most of the

targets remain as fixed reference points, some are

only temporary. We can then move the scanner from

area to area and get it going immediately, because

we always know where we are in the surveyed space.

The process is pretty much like land surveying.”

Quality as a Competitive Advantage

Zimmermann also wishes to ensure that the high

standard of Meyer ships will continue to be achieved

in the future and actively promotes the training of

young surveying engineers. Meyer Werft sees con-

sistent quality as a key competitive advantage. For

this reason Ralph Zimmermann has been upgrading

surveying equipment and practices at the shipyard

piece by piece – and always with Leica Geosystems

and Hexagon Metrology firmly on board.

About the Author:

Andreas Petrosino is Marketing Coordinator at

Hexagon Metrology Marketing & Communications

based in Unterentfelden, Switzerland.


tion of the ship and in the assembly of the blocks

themselves. Consistent measurements are crucial –

correcting mistakes is virtually impossible.

Ralph Zimmermann is a qualified surveying engineer

with over 20 years’ experience in this field. He heads

the surveying section at Meyer Werft. “Our surveying

instruments are used every day under harsh condi-

tions in both indoor and outdoor environments. In

addition to the quality of the instruments, we also

recognize the value of good service and a long-term

relationship. It is important that our partners are still

there for us tomorrow,” says Zimmermann. “In Leica

Geosystems and Hexagon Metrology, we have found

partners who have never once disappointed us.”

Surveyors Always Involved in the Action

The surveying team at Meyer Werft is on hand to pro-

vide its services at every stage during the production

of a new ship. Alignment of the plasma torch cutting

machines is just one of the first tasks. Accuracy is

also the name of game when laying keels and fabri-

cating the blocks. On top of this come a host of other

special jobs, such as determining the overall length

of a ship. Ralph Zimmermann: “More and more parts

are being prefabricated and then attached to the

ship in one piece. For us this means we have to carry

out fairly accurate 3D surveys – such as taking the

measurements of a sun shade composed of multiple

concave shapes or a 260-m-long waterslide (850 ft)

with curves and loops.”

Point cloud of the scanned turbine.

24 | Reporter

Accident Investigation at Russian Power Station

by Pavel Karpov

After one of its turbines was pushed out by

water pressure, 75 people died at the Russian

Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power sta-

tion in the summer of 2009. Leica Geosystems'

equipment was chosen to scan the disaster area

during the first phase of reconstruction.

The accident happened after one of the hydropower

units was pushed out and lifted into the air by the

pressure of a stream of water. After the water pres-

sure decreased, the power unit – now more or less

a pile of waste metal with a total weight of 2,000

tons – came to rest upon a crane base. After detailed

inspection it became clear that it would be necessary

to drag it out of the debris for further inspection and

to determine the cause of the terrible accident as

well as the cost of reconstruction, which was esti-

mated to be around 40 billion Rubles (almost 1 billion

Euro).

The only way to lift the unit was to use one of the

cranes – although it was possible that both the crane

and the turbine would collapse during the operation.

A 3D model of the power units was needed to aid

decision-making for this high-risk undertaking. Laser

scanning was chosen since the fragments were too

big to survey using a total station. Three specialists

damaged unit and two other nearby units from 50

stations. Field work – while completed with as much

detail as possible – took only three days.

Due to the high point density achieved with the Leica

HDS6100 scanner, it was possible to create a precise

and very detailed 3D model of the three extremely

complex power units. Additionally, the Navgeocom

team could generate a full set of plots and drawings

that was passed to the customer. Leica Cyclone soft-

ware was used for post-processing. Afterwards, the

scans were referenced into one single point cloud to

create the 3D models.

About the author:

Pavel Karpov is a Senior Engineer at Navgeocom Engi-

neering, Leica Geosystems’ distribution partner in

Russia.


of Leica Geosystems’ partner Navgeocom Engineer-

ing carried out the scanning.

The Navgeocom team’s goal was to supply design

engineers with all documentation needed to disman-

tle the power unit. The scans had to be performed

within a very tight schedule and harsh conditions.

The Leica HDS6100 laser scanner proved to be the

ideal instrument for the job: “It is a scanner that met

all our requirements for successful job performance,”

says Pavel Karpov, senior engineer at Navgeocom

Engineering. “For those who work outdoors the

advantages of this scanner are very notable. You can

manage everything from onboard controls: no need

for external controllers, notepads, etc. The power

unit is also ‘onboard’ – no external power units and

cables are needed: If a surveying device requires

extra equipment, it means you need an extra person

to carry it, but during this project we faced a lot of

situations where two persons simply wouldn’t fit.”

During the scanning phase, one of the Navgeocom

specialists worked with a total station to georefer-

ence the object, while the other two scanned the

©

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e

The Red Floodby Jan Sirotek and Tamás Tomor PhD.

On October 4th, 2010 Hungary faced the worst

environmental disaster in its history when the

embankment of a toxic waste reservoir failed

and released a mixture of 600,000 to 700,000 m³

(160 to 185 million gal) of red mud and water.

Lower parts of the settlements of Kolontár,

Devecser, and Somlóvásárhely were flooded.

Ten people died and another 120 people were

injured. The red mud flooded 8 km² (2,000 acs)

of the surrounding area. Airborne service pro-

vider BLOM and Károly Róbert College, a Hun-

garian scientific research institute for remote

sensing, processed the data acquired with Leica

ALS LiDAR, thermal, and hyper spectral imaging

technologies to map the scale of the damage

caused by red mud leakage and to compensate

property owners for their losses.

Immediately after the catastrophe on October 4th,

2010 the procedure for obtaining necessary permits

was started and on October 6th the research agenda

was agreed upon. The main aim of the mission was to

document the current status and to identify possible

additional dam breaks with risks of new red mud

outflow. After necessary flight planning and mobi-

lization, the aerial survey was performed within a

very short time frame from October 9th – 11th. For-

tunately, the weather conditions in those days were

A 3D model of the scene provides valuable

information for damage analysis.


An Effective Solution for Data Analysis

The combination of different remote sensing meth-

ods turned out to be a very effective solution for

evaluating the range and impact of this huge envi-

ronmental disaster. Based on the data acquired it

was possible to simulate a detailed course of the red

mud flow and exactly evaluate the extent and con-

centration of the pollution. The technology enabled

identification of possible fractures in similar reser-

voirs’ dams and therefore it would be ideal for use in

emergency management, modeling of potential sce-

narios, and systematic monitoring of similar deposits

to prevent other catastrophes.

About the authors:

Jan Sirotek is Director International Sales at BLOM

with responsibility for activities in Central & Eastern

Europe, including Hungary.

Tamás Tomor PhD. is Institute Director of Károly

Róbert College, a Hungarian scientific research insti-

tute for remote sensing.

of the polluted area, determine the degree of con-

centration of pollutants, mainly heavy metals, and

to determine the thickness of settled red mud in the

outlying area. The concentration of most heavy met-

als can be mapped by hyperspectral survey, as there

is a strong correlation between aluminum oxide, iron

oxide, and the heavy metals. The map of polluted

areas based on hyperspectral survey was matched

with the cadastral map to evaluate damage to prop-

erty owners. This data will later be used to determine

compensation for the property owners.

excellent and three survey flights using different

technologies were performed to receive detailed and

valuable data about the mud-flooded area:

Thermography (4.2 km² / 1,000 acs)

LiDAR (10 km² / 2,500 acs)

Hyperspectral (100 km² / 25,000 acs)

In total, 12.5 hours of survey flights were performed

and 792 GB of data were captured.

Thermography and Near-Infrared Survey

The survey flight was performed with a geometric

resolution better than 20 cm (8 in). The data was

acquired with visible, near infrared, and thermal

bands to achieve detailed information about the

extent of the damaged area. The survey was per-

formed in the area closest to the broken dam with

the intention of detecting gaps and fractures in the

dam, and leaking and wet patches near the dam. The

analysis of this approach showed that there were

no additional fractures or leaks between the two

affected reservoirs and that there was no substan-

tial outflow from the northern dam, but significant

leaking was identified on the terrace under the west-

ern dam.

LiDAR Survey

BLOM, a leading international company for acquisi-

tion and processing of airborne data, used a Leica

ALS60 LiDAR system to acquire a precise and detailed

digital terrain model, which allowed an exact esti-

mate of the quantity of red mud spilt over the terri-

tory. Additionally, the dam storage capacity could be

calculated and the data was also used to design a

levee to be constructed to prevent further damage.

The data delivered an excellent basis for the flood

modeling to determine the quantity of polluted soil

and mud removed during the restoration work.

Data was captured at a flying altitude above ground

of about 800 m (2,600 ft) with a density of 4 points/

m² in the final digital surface model and with highest

possible accuracy of 10 cm (8 in) in height. The digital

model was then converted into a suitable format for

the flood modeling software, where a simulation of

the catastrophe was performed.

Hyperspectral Survey

In addition to the LiDAR, a hyperspectral sensor and

thermal camera were used to specify the exact range

Spaceport America designed by URS/Foster + Partners

Conceptual image courtesy of Vyonyx Ltd

28 | Reporter

by Daniel C. Brown

Welcome to space tourism, Southwestern style!

Contractor David Montoya Construction fin-

ished construction of the Spaceport America

runway in a remote area 60 km (37 mi) south-

west of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico,

in September last year. Billionaire Sir Richard

Branson’s space enterprise, Virgin Galactic, cut

a deal to be a tenant at Spaceport, and Branson

hopes to send tourists into near orbit as early as

this year. More than 300 people have reportedly

signed up for tickets, which start at $ 200,000

each. The state of New Mexico and two local

counties have financed the $ 198-million proj-

ect. And thanks to stringless concrete paving

system Leica PaveSmart 3D and some space-

age machine control equipment, construction

on Spaceport’s $ 27-million runway was able to

wrap up nearly two months early.

Montoya’s superintendent David Guerra said the run-

way, which is 3 km (10,000 ft) long by 60 m (200 ft)

wide, was completed seven weeks ahead of the

scheduled date. Montoya paved the runway with a

Guntert & Zimmerman S850 slipform concrete paver

automatically controlled by a Leica PaveSmart 3D

system guided by two robotic total stations. The pav-

er had to make six passes, each 10 m (33.3 ft) wide,

to cover the complete width of the runway. Depth

of the concrete is 35 cm (14 in). Leica PaveSmart 3D

regulated steering, grade, draft, and crossfall of the

slipform paver in real-time, and integrated seam-

lessly with the paver with no need to install complex

retrofit hydraulics.

No stringline was used on either the concrete paver

or the placer-spreader that preceded it. The auto-

matic paver control system based its guidance on a

digital terrain model – a digitized 3D model of the

runway – entered into a Leica Geosystems computer

onboard the paver. The paver also had two prisms,

mounted above the machine, for tracking by the two

robotic total stations set up on tripods ahead of the

paver. The prisms on the paver were set in relation

to four points on the slipform concrete paver’s pan,

which extruded concrete for the runway.

If he had used stringlines, Guerra would have used

one stringline for the placer-spreader and another

for the paver. “The two stringlines are time-con-

suming to set up,” said Guerra. He bought the Leica

Geosystems machine control equipment, including

six Leica TCP1201+ robotic total stations, because he

wanted a system that was independent of the paver

and simple to use. “The total stations, their tripods,

and the required radios and batteries are easy to

move on and off of the project,” he said.

Automatic Accurate Steering

When setting up the two total stations, a technician

back-sighted each of them to three known control

points, fixing the location of the total stations rela-

tive to the runway’s digital model. The total stations

could then “see” the two prisms on the paver and

communicate the paver’s precise location – by free-


Montoya actually used four robotic total stations to

control the paver, but only two were active at one

time. Two stations were set 150 m (500 ft) ahead

of the paver, one on each side of the paving lane.

Those two controlled the paver while the next two

waited 300 m (1,000 ft) ahead for the paver to catch

up. When the paver passed the first two stations,

the second two took over, and the first two sta-

tions were then leapfrogged out ahead. That way the

paver never stopped, says Anthony Cerisano, Leica

Geosystems’ on-site service representative.

Guerra said he got accuracies of ±1.5 mm (0.05 in)

on the concrete slab. It took two workers to control

the paver. Montoya used the paver operator to read

Precision for Space Tourists

>>

“I’d say that machine

control saved us at least

50 percent of the time it

takes to use stringline.”David Guerra, Superintendent

at Montoya Construction

wave radio – to the paver itself. The on-board com-

puter processed the differences between the actual

paver location and the digital terrain model. Knowing

those differences, the computer could control the

paver pan location automatically.

Montoya is paving the runway with a Guntert & Zimmerman S850 slipform concrete paver

automatically controlled by a Leica PaveSmart 3D system.

30 | Reporter

ting blue-tops, and the labor to set up stringlines.

Typically a concrete paver is controlled by two string-

lines set at precise locations on each side of the lane

being paved.

Further benefits of machine control include improved

jobsite logistics, easier and faster truck turnaround,

greater jobsite safety (no stringlines to trip over),

and faster machine setup and clean-down at the end

of a shift. The result is a lower cost, higher produc-

tivity construction process with none of the human

error associated with traditional staking activities.

Most space tourists probably won’t know the air-

field was paved with a Leica Geosystems’ stringless

machine control system. But they’ll certainly appre-

ciate the smoothness of the runway. As the say-

ing goes: Build it and they will come, and they’re

expected to come to Spaceport America – organizers

are planning on 1 million visitors each year. Bon voy-

age, we say!

About the author:

Daniel C. Brown is the owner of TechniComm, a com-

munications business based in Des Plaines, Illinois/

USA.

“Leica Geosystems

equipment is really,

really good equipment.

It’s really accurate

and we have received

excellent technical

support from

the company.”

David Guerra, Superintendent

at Montoya Construction

Unlimited Benefits

Automated machine control saves time and money

because it eliminates all of the detailed survey labor

normally needed for a runway: staking of hubs, set-

the paver’s computer to check elevation and steer-

ing; the main quality control worker handled place-

ment of the robotic total stations and supervised the

operation.

Authors Klaus Maas (1st from left) and Jörg Fugmann (4th from left) with Stefan Wolf and Klaus Massmeyer from the

University of Ostwestfalen-Lippe and project coordinator Ms. Erdenechimeg Ulziikhutag in front of a floating dredge.


Mongolia is rich in mineral resources. Under its

extensive grasslands and deserts lie large reserves

of coal, metallic ores, and other raw materials, such

as rare earth minerals for high-tech applications. The

areas are relatively undeveloped; therefore many

deposits have only just been discovered. A research

project supported by Leica Geosystems is underway

to ensure that the raw materials are extracted as

sustainably as possible.

Except for the capital city of Ulaanbaatar and settle-

ments in the main transportation corridor, the popu-

lation density in Mongolia is very low and travelling

soon becomes a bit of an adventure. This remote-

ness and the unspoiled nature of the country mean

that the last untouched steppe landscapes on earth

can be found here.

Recent years have seen a mining boom with obvious

consequences for the environment and nature. For

how can these countless and widely scattered min-

ing operations ever be efficiently controlled when

the transportation infrastructure is still being devel-

oped?

This has been the focus of a research project on

sustainable raw material extraction sponsored by the

German Federal Ministry of Education and Research

since the beginning of 2011. Carrying out the project

are the Faculty for Environmental Information Sys-

tems at Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied

Science in Höxter, the mining consultants arguplan

GmbH, in the form of their office for mining engi-

neering, environment, and surveying in Karlsruhe,

and the School of Mining at the Mongolian University

of Science and Technology (MUST) in Ulaanbaatar.

With the help of remote sensing data the research

project seeks to differentiate between various types

of land affected by mining activities, such as open-

cast mines, reclaimed areas, and sites abandoned

without restoration, as automatically as possible.

This could make a significant contribution to exploit-

ing the country's underground riches in a sustainable

manner.

The investigations involve extensive off-road data

collection in which a field spectrometer is used to

provide reference measurements. GPS is used to

localize the measurements and the investigated

areas. Until recently MUST was not equipped to carry

out this task, so Leica Geosystems supported them

by making two GPS systems available to the univer-

sity during the winter semester 2010. This will allow

enough time for the students and research assis-

tants to receive all the necessary training before the

first field campaign begins in summer 2011.

Leica Geosystems Supports Mongolian Mining Research

Australia

CR Kennedy & Company Pty Ltd.

Melbourne

Phone +61 3 9823 1555

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Italy

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Cornegliano Laudense

Phone + 39 0371 69731

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Tokyo

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Mexico

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Mexico D.F.

Phone +525 563 5011

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Netherlands

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Wateringen

Phone +31 88 001 80 00

Fax +31 88 001 80 88

Norway

Leica Geosystems AS

Oslo

Phone +47 22 88 60 80

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Poland

Leica Geosystems Sp. z o.o.

Warsaw

Phone +48 22 260 50 00

Fax +48 22 260 50 10

Portugal

Leica Geosystems, Lda.

Moscavide

Phone +351 214 480 930

Fax +351 214 480 931

Singapore

Leica Geosystems Techn. Pte. Ltd.

Singapore

Phone +65 6511 6511

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South Africa

Hexagon Geosystems Pty.Ltd.

Douglasdale

Phone +27 1146 77082

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Spain

Leica Geosystems, S.L.

Barcelona

Phone +34 934 949 440

Fax +34 934 949 442

Sweden

Leica Geosystems AB

Sollentuna

Phone +46 8 625 30 00

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Switzerland

Leica Geosystems AG

Glattbrugg

Phone +41 44 809 3311

Fax +41 44 810 7937

United Kingdom

Leica Geosystems Ltd.

Milton Keynes

Phone +44 1908 256 500

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UAE

Leica Geosystems c/o Hexagon

Dubai

Phone +971 4 299 5513

Fax +971 4 299 1966

USA

Leica Geosystems Inc.

Norcross, GA

Phone +1 770 326 9500

Fax +1 770 447 0710

Illustrations, descriptions, and technical data are not binding. All rights reserved. Printed in Switzerland.

Copyright Leica Geosystems AG, Heerbrugg, Switzerland, 2011. 741803en – V.11 – RVA

www.leica-geosystems.com

Head Office

Leica Geosystems AG

Heerbrugg, Switzerland

Phone +41 71 727 31 31

Fax +41 71 727 46 74

Leica Geosystems AG

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www.leica-geosystems.com

Reporter 64

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