Adroit Portable Monitoring Kits (PMK) Helps Pipeline and Civil Navigate Council Limits on Auckland Worksite

Pipeline and Civil is a civil engineering contractor specialising in critical asset construction and renewal across New Zealand. They’re considered a leader in the field of large diameter pipeline construction and renewal, as well as concrete structures construction and general civil work in the three waters and energy sectors, in particular.

When a major sewer collapsed deep beneath The Parnell Rose Gardens, they were brought in by Watercare to help build a permanent solution. The collapsed pipe was considered irredeemable, and a new pipe and pump station needed to be established to divert the wastewater to a new junction.

Because of its location in the midst of a leafy city-fringe suburb, the potential for disruption to local residents was high and required works such as digging, piling, pouring of concrete and compaction, working with a mix of volcanic rock and sedimentary material. Potential risks for the project included vibration, noise and dust.

Liam Thornton, Site Engineer at Pipeline and Civil says that in order to ensure their work was compliant with the Auckland Council Unitary Plan constraints, they were required to provide real-time data on both noise and vibration levels throughout the project.

Pipeline and Civil purchased two Adroit PMK portable measurement kits for the project to monitor both noise and vibration on the site against that plan. Thornton says the timing of the purchase was fortuitous and that a colleague was actually researching units for another major project when the urgent job in Judges Bay came up.

“Another contractor was using one, so we got to see the Adroit PMK in action and we liked it. So, we put a case forward and purchased six of them and they arrived just as the job started,” he said.

Noise and vibration are two key parameters that need constant monitoring. Auckland Council's Unitary Plan dictates the maximum level of noise that can be emitted during certain periods: during the day, the night and weekends.

Vibration on the other hand has two parameters by which it is measured. The first parameter is a lower reading, which would likely cause public disruption or disturbance. Another parameter is set at a much higher level, where vibration could result in degradation of structural integrity over a longer period.

Thornton says that in terms of disturbance, piling is the most critical feature of the project - driving steel H-beams into the ground using a vibrating pile head on an excavator. Pile and plate installation can emit significant vibration at the higher, potentially more damaging level, depending on the state of the terrain being piled into.

The maximum vibration level set by Auckland Council is five millimetres per second – any higher and work would need to be halted and processes reviewed. So, Thornton says, monitoring is essential to keep his team informed that they’re within the set guidelines.

“The main reason for having these Adroit PMK units here is to make sure we're not breaching any limits that the council have set. We've set up alerts, so we do get alerted if we do breach those limits. But other than that, they sit in the background, they do their job and they save me hours and hours of work,” he says.

Thornton says that the Adroit PMK units give him peace of mind, but even so, he often checks the Adroit app dashboard to see how vibration and noise are tracking in real time.
“Because at the moment, we're doing piling which is going about 14 metres into the ground. So, I'm checking the dashboard multiple times a day just to have a look at what our levels are - to see if we're getting anywhere close.

“It's just handy to have the data right there instead of having to set up all this equipment and go test it manually. It’s probably saved us several hours every week.
“And then the other great thing about them is the data. You can just extract it, send it to anyone who needs it, and you can even share the actual dashboard with who you need to as well,” he says.

Now Pipeline and Civil has successfully deployed their first Adroit PMK units, Thornton says it has been integrated into their systems and processes for the future. He says he was immediately impressed by their design and versatility.

“They’re pretty cool looking compared to some of the other ones I've used. My first surprise was just the size of them. I was using a unit that basically did the same thing without any transmitting capabilities whatsoever, and it was almost quadruple the size of this little unit. So I think the size of them just makes it very easy.

“Usually, you'd set these things up on your site 24/7, but on this job I'm having to set up every morning and take down every night. So, them being quite small and light is a massive bonus,” he says.

He also adds that units he’d worked with previously weren’t providing real-time data, requiring set up, manual operation, data download, then returning to the office to review data. So, being able to simply turn on and walk away, with data constantly updating the dashboard, is a total game changer.

Thornton also says that the setup was easy and problem free.

“When we first bought the sensors, Adroit came out and showed us how to set them up and all the online stuff as well. They were pretty helpful with all of that. So, the setup was all very simple,” he says.

So, what has the data shown the Pipeline and Civil team? Any surprises?

“Not so far. We've only had them here for four or five weeks. And to be honest, when our rig first got here, I thought we were going to see a few issues, but no, we seem to be all under our limits. It's good regardless - just to know that 24/7 as well.”

Thornton says the key benefit of having alerts set up and a dashboard with real-time data he can check at any time are what make the Adroit PMK unit such good value for money. “If we were hitting those limits, there's obviously a lot of cost putting construction on pause - so, when there's no alert, no news is good news,” he says.

Learn more about Adroit PMK and how it can work for your worksite by clicking these links