Watercare, Asset Management

Auckland’s water and wastewater company, Watercare, assembled an Assets Upgrades and Renewals Department to roll out a series of programs focused on upgrading Auckland’s aging water and wastewater pipe infrastructure.

Traditionally pipe work was carried out on a reactive basis when the assets failed, but now focus has shifted towards being proactive, and carrying out planned renewals. The Wastewater Targeted Asset Renewal Programme (TARP) is a structured 5-year programme of work to upgrade and rehabilitate Auckland’s wastewater network in a targeted manner.

One of the objectives of TARP is Asset Management which involves a thorough assessment of Watercare's existing infrastructure to identify assets that are nearing the end of their useful life or are at risk of failure. This includes pipes, treatment plants, pumping stations, and other essential facilities.

Modelling these assets to assist the engineering design is where Recon comes in!

Pump Station 3D Scanning & Modelling

William Xiang, Project Engineer for Watercare Asset Upgrades & Renewals, noted ‘that in the past only on special cases did they use 3D pointcloud data and CAD modelling on assets.  Going forward we want to standardise the process and use at every site’.

Recon was tasked with capturing 3D pointcloud data and CAD modelling the exterior and interior of a number of pump stations, including both the dry well and wet wells.  Accuracy is critical in these situations, both in an absolute sense where the stations need to relate accurately to other asset data in the area, but also in a relative sense. 

For example, the floor of the wet well needed to be completely drained to get an accurate scan and then position that to plant through the wall in the dry well. 

‘We gained a much better understanding of our assets, and with the information we now have, we can have educated discussions. Previously we were dealing with the unknown, and with that a lot of risk. This process greatly reduces our risks, and really helps with our planned works’, said William.

Recon timed their scanning to coincide with Watercare’s cleaning roster, meaning there was little additional effort required by the maintenance crew to support the scanning.  

‘My experience of working with Recon was very smooth. Recon was self-managed and had to coordinate with our planned works.  Recon consistently worked within our timeframes, even when given very short notice.  It’s been a great experience working with them’, said William.

MODELLING SCOPE

The modelling requirements included the full building and structural elements, equipment such as the existing pumps, pipework, ladders, platforms, stairs, handrails, air-vent ducts, cable trays, control cabinets, gantry crane and the crane’s running beam. Wet well internal walls and floors, including specifically the lowest level of the wells and required confined space entry. Permanent survey control was installed at each site for future reference and construction purposes.

EQUIPMENT USED

•FARO terrestrial laser scanners

•Topcon Hiper-V GPS base and rover

‘Over time people made changes to the assets that weren’t always captured, so our asBuilts are not always correct. We are 100% sure our 3D modelling will pick up on the discrepancies. We have gathered this information with 5-10 years use in mind.’ William, Project Engineer for Watercare.

Enquiries to Recon can be made through freephone 0800 732 669 or email info@recon.nz