Digging deeper

From his internship, he had "stuck" with the company to work on digitization and dimensioning in the position of work planner. Matters such as dimensioning, measuring, plotting and making 3D models for GPS-controlled earthmoving machines fell under his competence. A new company was created for it even: 3D GWW, so that third parties could also use the digital services.

We are writing less than a year later. By now, the 23-year-old digital techie is operations manager and shareholder of 3D GWW. What began as a one-man business is now a mature company with five employees. Innovation reigns supreme; we speak with Jorn about 3D GWW's latest feat.

Welcome ground radar!

"We saw a niche in providing valuable, additional information within cable and pipeline surveys," Jorn opens the conversation. "That's why we added ground radar to our expertise. With this, we detect cables and pipes with a 3D ground scan. We convert the data into a 3D model, which we can load into a 3D machine control file. Remember that KLIC data is always in 2D. This allows you to determine the location of cables and pipes, but not the depth. With our system you know without fail at what depth the cables and pipes are located. Moreover, we also detect orphan pipes. With this new data we can enrich the KLIC notification."

The great advantage is that this method causes little inconvenience to the surrounding area, since no trial trenches are required. It also saves time and prevents damage. "You not only get insights into the cables and pipes you expect to find, but simply map the entire route," Jorn explains. "This gives contractors, but also municipalities, provinces, and all pipeline network managers in the preliminary phase a valuable and complete picture of the situation. You can base choices on that, such as where and how deep a sewer is in relation to a newly planned pipeline. You can weigh whether the pipeline should be installed via trench or trenchless."

Purchasing services à la carte

Of course, 3D GWW still provides 3D machine control, but this can be expanded at will with any of the new services. "This can be purchased as a total package, but can also be purchased modularly. One thing is certain: the machine operator gets more insight than ever. New in development is a push notification warning of a cable or pipe and in the future we want the machine to automatically respond to such notifications. We are a mature and independent company with a drive to innovate. You can find us all over the country," Jorn says in conclusion.