Rapid Growth in Worksite Environmental Monitoring: Adroit’s Year in Review
When Adroit embarked on our 2023 journey, we were immediately struck by the growing interest in real-time Environmental Monitoring for the worksite.
While 2022 had the team wading through streams and boating across harbours to do water quality installations, this year saw the Adroit team visiting some of New Zealand’s largest worksites including Christchurch Stadium, Auckland Airport and Eastern Busway, utilising a growing range of sensors to measure vibration, dust, weather and much more.
This increased focus on worksites has seen Adroit win contracts with the likes of Dempsey Wood, Icon, Brian Perry Civil, Hawkins, NZ Strong, Tonkin+Taylor and many more. Four different construction companies working at Auckland Airport are using Adroit technology for example.
Installations throughout the country boosted Adroit’s national footprint and more than quadrupled the number of devices delivering data to their cloud platform.
Product innovations such as Adroit’s own Portable Monitoring Kit for Noise, Dust, Vibration and Turbidity, and the revised Worksite Vibration Sensor have put real-time Environmental monitoring into areas they’ve never been before.
Adroit CEO Blair Stewart says that the change has largely been driven by a continuing drive for improved compliance, safety and efficiency within the construction sector and Adroit technology making real-time reporting of data both accurate and cost-effective.
“We’re seeing rapid technological improvements happening simultaneously as a response to environmental regulation and cost pressure increasing.
Where in the past a construction business may not know if they had a problem until a breach or complaint halted work, now they’re able to continuously monitor their operation and see what’s happening with key metrics any time of the day or night
A key achievement for Adroit this year was new partnerships that expanded the range of devices and sensors available.
Adroit became the New Zealand distributor for EWS Geotechnical devices developed for Australia’s mining industry, including tilt meters, vibrating wire and groundwater level sensors, which come with satellite or cellular connectivity. This has seen installations around the country measuring land movement, weather, changes in groundwater and more, all of which can impact construction activity.
Another collaboration has seen Adroit partner with Timescapes, a Kiwi developer of a sophisticated timelapse camera and job site analytics technology platform. Timescapes allows you to dial back to the time of the breach or incident and see what happened on-site with clear, high-definition images.
All this adds to Adroit’s arsenal of technology that they can bring to bear on any worksite or infrastructure project.
Some of our highlights of the year include:
Groundbreaking Groundwater Monitoring
Our collaboration with Tonkin + Taylor on real-time groundwater monitoring has been pivotal in protecting New Zealand’s aquifers. This technology has proven essential for minimising the environmental impacts of various projects, offering benefits such as reduced field time, decreased carbon footprint, and enhanced safety.
Pioneering Slip Monitoring with EWS Tiltmeter
In response to the increasing weather calamities, Adroit provided Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency with the EWS Tiltmeter for slip monitoring. These devices, the first in New Zealand with satellite connectivity, have become an indispensable tool for early detection of ground movements, enhancing road safety and proactive maintenance.Noise and Vibration Monitoring for Christchurch Stadium Construction
The new 30,000-seat Christchurch Stadium is the largest project ever undertaken by Christchurch City Council. Adroit is working with BESIX Watpac to provide noise and vibration monitoring for the construction to ensure compliance with resource consents and Health & Safety.Helping CentrePort Plan for the Future
An Adroit installation at CentrePort Wellington is helping the port company automatically gather environmental data, to help plan for the future. Adroit automated sensors removed the need to manually sample stormwater in two key areas during rain events and help support CentrePort’s commitment to protecting and preserving the environment and improving harbour biodiversity.
A Multitude of Airport Sensors
The massive airport expansion and redevelopment project in Auckland has seen Adroit assist NZ Strong to install a multitude of sensors across his projects including weather sensors, wind sensors for craneage, dust sensors, groundwater and internal environment sensors, including humidity and temperature measurements.Satellite Opportunities
This year Adroit added satellite coverage to its sensor offering, allowing real-time monitoring of data to more remote and difficult-to-access locations than ever before. While cellular is still the first option for convenience, having access to satellite connectivity, along with solar power, means that sensors can continue to operate even after emergencies or inclement weather.
Sensor Validation
Sensor accuracy is important to our customers. So this year Adroit is delighted to work with Hill Laboratories to independently verify data from Adroit environmental monitoring solutions across New Zealand conditions. This validation provides confidence to Adroit customers, especially in water sampling, where quality is critical to the health of communities and environments.