The construction industry is often known for the slow adoption of technology, however, southeast Queensland group, Bielby Holdings (Bielby), has been challenging this stereotype for the last 15 years – using technology as the number one tool to transform the jobsite.

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Bielby was established in the 1980s and has successfully delivered more than 150 major transport, earthworks and infrastructure projects along the eastern seaboard of Australia. The organisation has been using Trimble machine control for over a decade – making the technology mission critical to its operations.

Trimble’s technology was originally deployed by Bielby for a grading project which involved replacing pavement without being able to stop nearby traffic – the team did not want to use traditional string lines for this job, due to safety reasons. Following the project, the team found they had increased productivity, tightened tolerances and had virtually no reworking. From thereon, Trimble’s technology has been used across numerous Bielby jobs as the team realised and enjoyed the enormous advantages gained. After continued use and investment over the years, Bielby now operates no-peg sites, relying on Trimble solutions for accurate grading and control.

In addition, Bielby recently started using the Trimble Earthworks Grade Control Platform (Earthworks), the latest evolution of construction technology, which has transformed machine control with its intuitive, highly usable design. Earthworks is now the standard for Bielby projects, improving safety, productivity, and accuracy; overall, making the organisation more competitive.

Much of the work being done using Earthworks has been entrusted to Shannon Watson and the organisation’s new Caterpillar 313F excavator. This has been her first time using machine control technology after more than 12 years spent in the mining and construction industry. “I love it,” said Watson. “It is mind blowing what you can do using Earthworks. It is making the job easier – as we are able to be more precise and efficient. In addition, it’s also engaging me as an operator.”

Watson explained the simplicity of Earthworks software, suggesting that if you can use a smartphone then you can use Earthworks, which has been built on the Android Operating System (OS) for a positive user experience.

While Watson has over a decade in the industry, only two and a half years have been spent as an excavator operator. She feels that using Earthworks has helped her with the visualisation of jobs. “I’ve found that when I’ve worked on something with Earthworks, if I then jump into the smaller excavator without it, I can ‘see’ the job in my head really clearly and that makes it easier to achieve,” she noted.

SITECH Construction Systems has been working with Bielby from the beginning.

“Bielby Holdings was an early adopter of Trimble machine control technology and has continued to upgrade and utilise our technology to be a highly competitive and efficient business,” SITECH Construction System’s Brent Daniels said.

“We’re proud to have helped this company continues to grow and succeed.”