Infrastructure project

The Laing O’Rourke team is working on a medium-sized infrastructure project that’s surrounded by environmentally-sensitive receivers. It’s an industrial area, but includes a nationally-protected marine sanctuary, natural greenbelt reserves and an important bird sanctuary. There are also communities nearby, who are understandably keen to protect both themselves and their natural environment.

The team needed a solution to manage multiple subcontractors

The LOR team was managing 15 subcontractors, and each of these was mandated to conduct their own noise and dust monitoring. Making sense of all the disparate data was time-consuming and difficult. With 30 more subcontractors due to come on board, the team needed a more efficient and effective solution.

After preparing a business case that showed significant cost and other benefits, the LOR team implemented SiteHive real-time environmental management. They deployed SiteHive Hexanode monitors, which capture information on both noise and dust, and use SiteHive cloud-based software to manage the information. Kiara Sparks, Laing O'Rourke, explained that live and continuous monitoring was important to them.

The local area also contains EPA noise and dust monitors, and so the team can use SiteHive to make sure they are complying with regulations and in line with the EPA. SiteHive alows LOR to see where any issues came from, and what is causing them. Kiara says, “SiteHive monitors 24/7 and all the data is aligned. We can do direct comparisons between the site and event times and the EPA data.”

Proactive management allows LOR to be a "good neighbour"

Using SiteHive has allowed the team to manage the site proactively, and prevent issues before they happen. They use Alerts within the software to be notified of any rising levels of noise or dust.

Easier council approvals

SiteHive has also made working with the local Council easier, as the team has all the data they need to obtain approvals and ensure they are not impacting the local environment.

Kiara says, “When we are preparing a noise management plan for Council approval, we use SiteHive to get the base level of ambient noise, like car traffic. So we can show we are not exceeding this during regular works, such as concrete pours.”

Major cost savings across the whole project

In fact, significantly lower costs have been one of the major benefits of implementing SiteHive. Initially, all subcontractors were required to do noise and dust monitoring - which added significantly to the overall project costs. And with 30 more subcontractors due to start, these costs were set to escalate further. With SiteHive, the LOR team has been able to remove these costs from the project entirely.

Using SiteHive has also reduced internal costs by saving time in managing the data provided by the subcontractors to meet the team’s monthly environmental reporting requirements. Kiara was receiving 15 sets of data from the contractors, and most were in a different formats. “I would spend at least two days a month converting the data and doing our own reports,” says Kiara. “Now all the data is available in SiteHive all the time, and SiteHive just spits out a report when you need it.”

With SiteHive the LOR environmental team is now well-equipped to take on the tripling of subcontractors that’s about to happen, confident that they can manage their environmental impact and protect both the community and the natural environment.