A number of high profile projects such as the Junglinster bypass recently have led the company to look for technology to improve productivity and achieve higher profitability.

The Giorgetti Group is a Luxembourg-based company created in 1890. Today the company has 480 employees and is one of the three largest public works companies in the country. The group covers a large spectrum of engineering and construction fields with its nine companies, including: Félix Giorgetti Construction, Kuhn Construction, Skyliners, Ferrac, TDO Consulting, Julien Cajot, Félix Giorgetti Immobilier, KUHN Immobilier, Giorgetti & Kuhn Agence Immobilière. Félix Giorgetti Construction is an entity within the Group that specializes in road construction, civil engineering, and building construction. 

Giorgetti Construction’s Manager Paul Giorgetti met Olivier Schmitt, a Trimble SITECH^® dealer, at Intermat, a major construction trade show event in 2012.  On Schmitt’s recommendation, Giorgetti visited the LGV Est project to see the Trimble^® GCS900 3D Grade Control System in action. “Our aim has always been to embrace technological advances related to our business,” said Giorgetti. “I immediately realized that it was a very good product in terms of quality and I was not mistaken.” 

Accurate Satellite Positioning with More Uptime

After the initial experience at the LGV Est job site, Giorgetti made the decision to invest in Trimble’s guidance technology for the Junglinster Bypass project, which was to excavate over 125,000 cubic meters of material. A Liebherr 944 excavator and a Komatsu D65 dozer were equipped with the Trimble 3D GCS900 Dual GNSS System. The Trimble® GCS900 Grade Control System with single dual GPS can be installed on scrapers for mass excavation applications. Design information and live cut/fill indications are displayed in the cab, allowing excavation to be done in a safer, stakeless environment. To accurately position the machines and the field crews, a Trimble GNSS base station was installed on the roof of the local workshop in Leudelange. GNSS receivers track GPS, GLONASS and Galileo signals. Due to the relatively small footprint of the country and the signal strength of the system, the base allows Giorgetti Construction to grade to centimeter level for all its current job sites from this single base. The Trimble receivers installed on the machines utilizes Trimble’s advanced Real Time Kinematic (RTK) engine enabling the machines with faster initialization times with longer range whilst maintaining high accuracy. The blade of the dozer and the teeth of the bucket are positioned very accurately using the GNSS receivers, meaning the work is completed faster and with less rework than conventional machines. This in turn delivers enhanced performance, uptime and productivity for Giorgetti Construction. As a result his dozer and excavator operators can run machines longer and avoid costly interruptions and downtime.

To accurately position the machines and the field crews, a Trimble GNSS base station was installed on the roof of the local workshop in Leudelange. GNSS receivers track GPS, GLONASS and Galileo signals. Due to the relatively small footprint of the country and the signal strength of the system, the base allows Giorgetti Construction to grade to centimeter level for all its current job sites from this single base. 

“Thanks to Trimble’s RTK technology, we are within a centimeter at all our job sites and on all of our equipped machinery,” said Giorgetti.

The company has also acquired Site Positioning equipment, including the Trimble SPS985 Smart Antenna and a controller running the Trimble SCS900 field software. With this, the surveyor can perform job site checks more quickly and simply, without the need for staking in adverse weather.

“With these new Trimble tools, I spend half as much time on the job site,” Rémi Larue, topography manager, Giorgetti Construction. “Now fewer stakes are needed and the number of elevation checks too.  The driver has all the information in the cab and is much more autonomous. We save a significant amount of time.”

Improved Grading Productivity

With positive results achieved on the Junglinster Bypass project, the company decided to again invest in Trimble machine guidance. In March 2013, Giorgetti Construction purchased two additional GCS900 guidance systems with dual GNSS. The equipment was selected to improve grading operations at its Eurohub/Transalliance logistics platform job site.

“We quickly saw the benefits,” said Giorgetti. “We achieved more accurate work because our operators can see where to grade. Often the grade is achieved after only one or two passes.”

Trimble Machine Control in Action

In addition to achieving better accuracy more quickly, crews and operators accepted the new technology quickly.

“After two weeks, all the operators were working as if they had been using the equipment for years,” said Cédriv Servais, field superintendant at Giorgetti Construction. “They all found the software to be very intuitive, easy to understand and use. For us, the system has been effectively adopted and our operators appreciate the comfort offered.”

“For the staking and surveying work, it is ingenious – a revolution,” said Servais. “And, it’s a great benefit, especially for linear projects.”

Giorgetti Construction machine operators were immediately impressed by the use of the Trimble GCS900 guidance systems.

“I make fewer adjustments thanks to the guidance system,” said Antonio Pires, excavator operator. “It took me about a week to get completely up to speed and I am more than satisfied. It is very easy to use and is a new way of doing excavation.”

The team’s dozer operator Carlos-Manuel Ferreiro Dasilva believes the Trimble system’s display is intuitive which helps to maximize overall productivity.

“My work is easier and faster thanks to visibility of the project in the cab,” said Dasilva. “I grade three to four times faster than before. It’s an enormous time savings and we are all happy with the results.”

Stellar Service from SITECH France

While users had some initial concerns about their ability to become proficient with the Trimble guidance systems, excellent coaching from SITECH France proved invaluable.

“The backup supplied by SITECH France is fantastic; we once had an issue with a system but it was back up and running within 24 hours,” said Larue.

Larue believes that the combination of superior positioning technology from Trimble along with support, service and training from SITECH are a winning combination that have empowered the Giorgetti Construction team to reach their highest potential.

“The good thing is that SITECH France’s service is available and has a human face, which is highly appreciated; we feel like we’re listened to and understood,” said Servais.