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GE100 2023: Leader in innovation
24 OCTOBER, 2023 BY GEEDITORIAL
Geodata specialist Fugro is driving for better data access, safer operations and more sustainable practices through technological advances in geotechnics.
For the last two years, Fugro has been chosen as the Ground Investigation Specialist of the Year at the GE Awards. It has also consistently ranked highly on the GE100 list of top geotechnical firms. While the company has experienced growth in turnover and profit, it is also investing significantly in technology, both in-house and with partners, to improve its performance and to collect better geo-data from various locations, ranging from marine to onshore.
Key drivers for these innovations include:
Increased safety – the removal of people from the field and reduced manual operation
The energy transition – technology for renewable, carbon capture and emerging energy projects
Improved data – better access to and understanding of data for clients.
“We develop the things our clients need,” says Fugro’s nearshore manager Paul Roach.
“We’re focused on robotics, remote operations and analytics – so improved processing of data, artificial intelligence and cloud-based geodata solutions – in order to improve the flow of data from site to the clients making decisions on that data. To do that, we invest quite heavily in web portals and making that data better presentable and easier to make decisions on.”
Fugro has the largest network of remote operations centres and remote equipment for marine applications.
“We have uncrewed remotely operated surface vessels, a large fleet of site characterisation equipment and our seabed equipment – the Blue Snake, Blue Dragon and Deep Drive – that can get remote data from difficult to access places. We gather that data with various technologies that allow us to penetrate the subsurface deeper, more efficiently.”
The acquisition of cone penetration test (CPT) data can be automated, and the data can be accessed anywhere in the world almost instantly. This means it can be processed and made available to clients immediately. “And if agreed upfront, the clients can see that data live as well, so they can make immediate decisions on, not just the design, but the investigation itself,” Roach adds.
Fugro is also moving into remote operation for traditional onshore site investigations.
“I think we’re still at the start of the journey towards better data access,” Roach notes. “There’s lots of different methods of digital delivery that need to be rationalised across our industry. Fugro is doing that with our portals, and we’re using third party suppliers
as well.
“The industry is still gathering analogue data, whether through cable percussive drilling or standard penetration tests (SPTs), and relying on these antiquated methods to deliver soil design parameters for some really significant infrastructure projects. We should take these outdated methods off the table as an industry, both client and contractor, and do better things with digital data, whether it be CPT or just better drilling techniques such as measurement while drilling (MWD) as an example.”
Roach has worked with Fugro in operations management for more than a decade now. “My experience is firstly drilling based, and I then moved into main contractor civil engineering, working for a tunnelling contractor. I got to see the subsurface up close and see the challenges presented by poor acquisition of data.
“I came back into the site investigation industry with a real passion to make sure we’re doing the right thing, so that infrastructure projects are delivered in the correct way, uncertainty is reduced and clients have the right data to reduce risk,”
he explains.
Roach wants to highlight the fact that, in addition to technological innovation, Fugro also invests in its people, creating new opportunities to develop themselves and the business.
“I didn’t stay quiet when I saw things that were screaming out for improvement, so the business invited me into the innovation team to spend a period of time developing better solutions for data acquisition.
“Off the back of that, we’ve delivered a number of innovations.”