Analytics and IoT Technology is Coming to Infrastructure Projects: Three Presentations on Pre-Construction, Construction, and Maintenance

Jen Jewett Autodesk Infrastructure
Jen Jewett, Autodesk, formerly with Montana Department of Transportation joined our discussion on emerging tech in construction management of infrastructure projects. Autodesk has joined other big tech players in making a bigger push into the sector.

Technology companies, large and small, have their sights on infrastructure this year. Across a spectrum of drones, sensor technology, predictive analytics, and other technologies, applications are being honed specifically to help better plan, build, operate and maintain transit, water, energy, waste, communications and other non-building projects. As pictured above, large companies like Autodesk, Bentley, and Trimble are beefing up offerings, particularly in the construction phases of infrastructure project lifecycles, while start ups are leveraging sensors, AI, reality capture, drone and other emerging technologies to develop tailor made point solutions. Meantime engineers and contractors are learning to leverage the suite of solutions in combination with their own software to bring new levels of control and service to projects.

New Tools, Approaches to Planning Road Infrastructure Projects

Infrastructure encompasses a huge swath of major projects, and there are solutions specific to each major heading. In our directory, you can search solutions by major segments such as transportation, environmental, power generation & delivery, and Water Infrastructure. Roadbuilding is one of the biggest segments people think about when considering infrastructure technology, and so we elected to focus on roadbuilding for our pre-construction discussion.

Infrastructure tech preconstruction

Dave Hettinger, Principal of Industry Advisory, entropy.build took us through a discussion of tools in the pre-construction and planning phase from two industry players in infrastructure (click here or the image above to watch the recording), Dominic DiMarco, CTO, Rock Solid Stabilization & Reclamation and  Don Matthews, Division Manager, Pavement Recycling Systems about how they are now leveraging digital twin and reality capture technology in the planning phase, and we also heard from drone expert, Sarah Hoff about how firms are using drones for planning purposes on infrastructure projects.

Large and Small Players Expand into Infrastructure Construction Management

As we moved past our day of planning technology and into the field in day two, we first looked at the role of equipment technology on infrastructure projects. We have noted that Equipment Management Systems and Project Management Systems, particularly on infrastructure projects, have become increasingly integrated. For more on the topic, see our recent briefing Equipment Management Software Becomes Table Stakes; Four Key Factors and 20 Leading Players In the Sector Now and join us on November 4th for our upcoming Analyst Call with Autodesk and Milwaukee Tools representatives to hear how they are integrating tool and equipment management systems and project management systems.

After an exploration of the current state of smart equipment (stay tuned for those presentations), we looked deeper at emerging technology in infrastructure (click here or above to watch the session), it was clear that sensor technology and reality capture technology is playing an increased role in the construction phase beyond equipment management.  We were joined by CLUE , co-founder and CEO, Oded Ran, whose company exemplifies this trend of IoT enabled project management.

Infrastructure 50 List

For more on the Infrastructure Oriented Applications we are tracking, see our Infrastructure 50 List

Full Life Cycle: A Look at the Connection with Ongoing Infrastructure Maintenance.

 

Perhaps even more than in the Building Construction sector, engineering and construction companies are engaged with the maintenance of the projects in infrastructure, and emerging technology is providing interesting opportunities for enterprising firms to extend their reach beyond construction and into operations and maintenance through technology. Joining us to drive the point home was Austin Rabine, CEO of Rabine Group, one of the countries largest commercial paving companies. In his capacity, Austin was instrumental in the incubation of SITE Technologies , a data analytics company that aids in the assessment and maintenance of infrastructure. Leveraging tech like Site has helped improve Rabine's standing in the industry and also helps illustrate the where data capture is taking the industry in a full cycle, from planning to construction to maintenance and then back around to better planning.

In conclusion:

  • Infrastructure is seeing unprecedented resources directed its way for development of uniquely tailored solutions.
  • IoT sensor technology is playing a key role across all phases of the lifecycle on these projects.
  • Increasingly, technology companies are developing solutions across the full project life cycle, with significant implications for the industry, as a whole.

We will be focusing more intently on the development of infrastructure in the weeks and months to come. So, if you are interested, subscribe or join to stay engaged. Meantime, below is a bit more of what we've looked at on the topic so far this year.