NAVIGATING SUCCESS

Celebrating a legacy that spans six decades, Breheny is one of the largest family-owned civil engineering companies in the UK, providing services to almost two thirds of the country. It is also a company that fully embraces new technology, utilising many of the latest Trimble products on all of their sites.

Employing over 300 people, it operates a 20 plus strong fleet of excavators, dumpers and other associated plant, and has worked on diverse award-winning infrastructure schemes over the years, ranging from highways and bridges to utilities and the environmental sector.

Awesome Earthmovers recently visited one of their busy sites, a major housing development at Brightwell Lakes near Ipswich, where our team witnessed first-hand the transformative impact of Trimble technology.

The construction site, teeming with excavators and heavy machinery, showcased the seamless integration of Trimble Earthworks Grade Control Platform, a fleet of excavators working on a series of roads, sewers, swales and landscaping, in addition to excavating a large lake on the site.

"A combination of Trimble Earthworks, Trimble Business Center and Trimble WorksManager software forms the complete digital workflow. This essentially brings people, data, and machines together into a cloud-enabled environment where real-time, real-world data can be accessed. It enables you to stay on track with project budgets, schedules, resources, and teams—from planning and design through to operation and maintenance."

Breheny's Senior Land Surveyor, Daniel Greenwood, highlights the indispensable role Trimble's suite of products, supplied by SITECH UK & Ireland, has played in the company's operations for approximately seven years. Today, the technology has become an integral part of their workflow, contributing significantly to heightened productivity and efficiency.

For instance, Trimble Business Center plays a pivotal role in streamlining various aspects of their operations. It aids in calculating earthworks and material quantities for bids, prepares data for construction stakeout, builds 3D models to optimise machine operations, and seamlessly delivers 'as-built' documentation. This comprehensive functionality ensures a smooth and efficient workflow, underscoring the technology's essential contribution to Breheny's success.

"We initially introduced only three Trimble Earthworks machine control cab kits to allow operators to see how they could benefit from the technology. Although it was initially a tough journey for the older operators to learn a new way of working, understand a new digital workflow, and grasp the new technology, it wasn't long until they couldn't work without it. The GNSS grade control technology has made already highly skilled operators even more efficient and enabled them to be much more adaptive without having to rely on engineers. We just remotely send out the designs, and the operators do the rest. 'We now have over 20 Trimble machine control cab kits, along with the associated office-based software and hardware,' says Daniel Greenwood. 'All of our site-based teams now use it on a daily basis.'"

"In addition, Breheny harnesses the power of a survey drone to efficiently gather pertinent data from the site. Once all the necessary information is seamlessly streamed to the Trimble Business Center, a practical 3D design is promptly crafted and transmitted from the office to the on-site machine operator through Trimble WorksManager. WorksManager features an intuitive dashboard, providing a clear and concise display of design information. This data can be remotely accessed on laptops by site engineers, whether they are situated on the jobsite or working from the office. This approach significantly reduces the risk of miscommunication between the field and the office as well as assisting operators with any support or training issues." In addition to helping the operators with diagnosing technical issues and breakdowns.

“A fully equipped GNSS machine control fleet enables a cost-efficient workflow from design to machine…”

“We’ve also recently introduced Trimble SiteVision which has proven to be a great asset to our site foremen,” says Daniel. SiteVision is a user-friendly augmented reality system used for communicating new designs and changes to site crews, inspections, determining productivity and calculating quick measurements on site including points, lines and cut/ fill values.

The software brings spatial data to life in real-world environments so you can easily visualise, explore and understand complex information - right on your own mobile device.

"The pictured machine represents one of three recently acquired 20-tonne Volvo excavators, each machine meticulously equipped with advanced features, including a tilt rotator, height and slew restriction systems, and the indispensable Trimble Earthworks Grade Control Platform. This particular unit is skilfully operated by Lewis Jarmen, a valued member of the renowned Jarmen family, all actively contributing as machine operators at Breheny. Notably, Lewis's sister, Hannah, recently clinched the Operator of the Year competition, underscoring the family's commitment to excellence.

Lewis attests, 'I wouldn't be without the Trimble Earthworks system on my machine; it fosters independence. Rapid design uploads, seamless adjustment of offsets, and the ability to create custom flat or complex models on-the-fly with the Infield Design section—these functionalities are integral to my workflow. Additionally, storing reference points for inclusion in surface details adds a layer of efficiency. The user-friendly screen enhances navigation and quick learning, allowing me to take pride in delivering top-notch work.'

Breheny's dedication to digital innovation is evident, as they recently commissioned a new 8-tonne Kubota, also fully integrated with the Trimble Earthworks. This move, unusual in the industry due to the typical tasks undertaken by such machines, is aimed at enhancing workflow efficiency. The 8-tonne machine will handle smaller works where larger machines cannot operate, further bolstered by the inclusion of a tilt rotor for increased versatility.

Daniel, reflecting on Breheny's forward-looking approach, remarks, 'We eagerly anticipate future technological advancements from the team at Trimble. Looking forward we plan to install and integrate more tilt rotators with Trimble Earthworks, the machines have proven to be so versatile and a great asset to the Breheny business.

"The new 780 GNSS Smart Antenna is the most rugged receiver Trimble has ever built that is easy to use and virtually indestructible…"

Breheny also recently had a demonstration of the new Trimble R780 GNSS Smart Antenna with Trimble Siteworks software on the controller. The most rugged receiver Trimble has ever built combines unprecedented strength and durability into a compact form that is easy to use and virtually indestructible.

Using the R780 GNSS Smart Antenna with tilt compensation and Siteworks Positioning Software, you can capture accurate points while standing, walking or driving across the site in a vehicle, while the receiver is not level. From inside the vehicle, you can set the height of the antenna and quickly interrogate surface models using the real-time 3D surface display. Benefit from insight driven decision making, sk et your productivity, reduce lead times and make site to office communication sm her than ever before. Using connected construction technology on your projects, sharin d collaboration has never been easier.

“We have enjoyed a good long standing relationship with the team at SITECH,” adds Daniel. “They help us with WorksManager and our data flows, and also with any diagnostics issues with our GNSS cab kits, they’ll come on to the site to calibrate the machines, for example, and we are looking forward to working with them in the future.”