ForConstructionPros.com

High Definition TV, iPods, TiVo — what are all these fancy gadgets floating around in television commercials and magazine ads? Why invest time and money in new technologies when the old ones work just fine? Technology can often seem unnecessary, and people might be apprehensive about learning something new and unknown. But technology breeds efficiencies, and on a construction site "efficiencies" translates into "money savings." Investing in technologies on the jobsite can save time, bring down labor costs, increase accuracy and offer flexibility in scheduling.

One technology concrete contractors have been increasingly interested in over the past few years is using survey-type equipment to do their own jobsite layouts, including mapping foundation walls, bolt patterns, distances and so on. They achieve this through using a total station, either with a mechanical version for a two-person layout or with a robotic total station which allows a worker to do layout solo.

In recent years, manufacturers have come out with software packages that allow a contractor to use his total station to the fullest potential, connecting his total station with information on a building blueprint. The software packages are contractor-specific versions of the type of software surveyors use, minus the surveyor-specific details, and focus on simplicity for the contractor such as contractor terminology and the ability to color code points to keep footings or bolt patterns separate from foundation walls.

What's new
In 2003, Trimble introduced its LM80 Layout Manager field software for mechanical total stations. It allows contractors to enter building wall dimensions and angles of the walls into the software and connect this information to the total stations. Since then, Trimble has made the software available for robotic total stations. As electronic CAD files became more common, Trimble introduced LM80 Desktop in 2007, which allows contractors to better use that information. "It allowed the contractors to import a CAD file into the LM80 Desktop, select the points they wanted to lay out and synch the file via cable to the LM80. Contractors could then plug that into their robotic total station so they were able to lay out those points," says Ken Shawler with Trimble.

At World of Concrete 2008, Trimble introduced a wireless version of the LM80, allowing office personnel to send CAD files to the LM80 via e-mail.