“We completed the surveying at this site (for 500 piles) 50% faster through one man surveying made possible by the automatic-tracking total station,” Kusumoto said. “The biggest difference was the fact that we did not need to clear sight lines. With total stations, sometimes we had to interrupt our work to let heavy machinery and people pass through. We don’t need to do that with the GSX2; in fact, sometimes the heavy machinery waits for us! I believe this system improves the efficiency of our surveying work as well as that of the site as a whole.” The GSX2 quickly proved to be useful throughout Saikai-Kensetsu. Koichiro Ideguchi, a section chief in the Construction Department at company headquarters, also shared his thoughts during the interview. “I was allowed to use the equipment when it was free. There were no known points near my location, so I used a virtual reference station to determine an area. The system was extremely helpful, and enabled me to do efficient, precise work.”

The performance of the GSX2 one man surveying system in this ground improvement project has convinced Saikai-Kensetsu to continue to use the system. According to Kusumoto and Ideguchi, the company intends to use the system in future earthwork as well as river training, which sometimes requires depth sounding that they expect the GSX2 to be able to handle. The company hopes to further improve efficiency through one man surveying by strategically combining the use of total stations and the GSX2.