Significant time and cost savings can be achieved on major construction projects through the use of a new-to-the-market concrete strength prediction engine.
The Converge system has been introduced by freshly established Auckland advanced technology company Kaptura following a commendation of the system by the Singapore Housing Commission for use on its construction projects in the city-state.
Internationally, the system has been used by construction companies on some 150 projects covering superstructures, substructures, infrastructure, foundation and tunnelling. Among some of the largest projects have been Wembley Stadium, the Ipswich Tidal Barrier, and water and waste tunnelling and extensions at the London City Airport.
Kaptura chief executive Mark Singh says the factors which make it a superior tool for major project contractors include the capability to provide predictive insights into temperature progress within the pour; the provision of real-time progress readings both onsite and to management offices over multiple sites; and its integration into BIM (building information modelling).
“While alerts and live data generated by standard sensor monitoring systems bring significant project management benefits, the time spent waiting for the concrete to hit a critical strength before scheduling the next activity is often frustrating. It means that site teams needed to strike formwork or tension the slab are deployed in other areas when the time comes to act,” Mr Singh says.
“Such delays may be small, but when accumulated across hundreds of cycles, they result in weeks of lost potential progress. When concrete sits on the critical path, the costs associated with these time lags cost industry millions of dollars every year.”
POWERED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The Converge system was developed as the world’s first and most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) strength prediction engine. Within hours of concrete being poured, it can predict days in advance the time a critical strength will be reached by applying the latest in machine learning techniques.
“The predictions engine combines local weather data, a database of historical concrete curing data, and the Converge concrete monitoring platform’s real-time measurements from the pour. This gives Converge the unique ability to predict the time the concrete will reach strength with an accuracy of +/- 5% several days in advance,” Mr Singh explains.
He says the result of this predictive power is that construction teams can plan to act precisely when needed. “This improved productivity keeps projects on track and ultimately can save hundreds of thousands of dollars.”