Demand for greater efficiencies and controls, labour costs, keeping abreast of construction delays or traffic issues – doing more with less. These are some of the drivers that motivated Resolve Group to install two construction cameras on a high profile New Zealand construction site.

These are not ordinary web cameras, or snazzy gadgets. They are high-resolution, wireless systems utilising innovative new web technology from North America. The cameras download 3 to 6 mega pixel images every 10-15 minutes. These images, easy to view and stored on a server, allow project teams with the correct password to monitor projects from any location with internet access 24/7.

This technology can improve project coordination and communication. This is a turnkey solution for projects of all sizes with benefits across the entire project.

• Indisputable project records = cost avoidances/cost reductions 
  
• Marketing and project showcasing tool

Resolve Group is the first company to pilot this technology in New Zealand and is currently leasing the cameras to Auckland City Council.

Last month Martin Leak attended the Transportation Research Board (TRB) AGM in Washington DC. We asked him to report back:

Q: Martin, what was it like?

ML: It was huge! Over 11,000 transport professionals from around the globe were there, and 10% of those were from outside America.

Q: Who were all those people?

ML: Well, it’s primarily a gathering place for the influencing parties – This includes people involved in scoping and undertaking research across the whole Transportation spectrum. Most of them were from governments, universities and of course, consultancies.

Q: So, what can the people from outside America learn?

ML: Firstly it’s important to realise that Europe and especially America have greater funding than New Zealand for investment in research and technology. As many of their transport problems are similar to ours, we can benefit from their research and learn about all the latest issues and solutions from both the States and Europe.

Q: What was the best paper you heard?

ML: Well, the great thing is that many of the sessions are discussions rather than someone delivering a paper. It is much more interactive. You can sit in and learn about the latest research from an entire research team and even participate in the debate!

Q: So what did you learn?

ML: I gained a lot from a session that looked at new forms of construction and maintenance going on around the world. There was another on ultra high performance concrete materials being developed for bridging. I also heard a suggestion on how to ease congestion that we have not previously tried in NZ and there was a preventative pavement management system that seemed pretty successful.

Q: Personal highlights?

ML: It was great to be amongst the decision-makers and get an understanding of the thinking behind the problems and where the solutions have come from. Also, I was asked to be on the International Road Safety Committee, which is committed to improving road safety for vehicles, roads and legislation.