A prominent South African property development firm has opted to use technology and connectivity provider Lighter Than Air Network’s (LTA’s) devices to monitor and capture critical environment parameters across its South African construction sites to better assess various parameters for its workers and machines.

These parameters include air temperature, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, rainfall, barometric pressure and air quality.

“All the elements being monitored are important on site to allow for efficient facilities management and ensure staff safety,” says LTA GM Kian Campling.

“The construction process is complex and often involves environment-related risks, which can be mitigated through proper monitoring of several key factors such as water levels, soil moisture, carbon dioxide and air quality levels,” he says.

Campling points out that these are only a few of the 72 various parameters that can be measured by the series of monitors LTA offers its clients.

Monitoring these factors constantly is crucial to ensuring worker safety and the successful completion of a project.

Additionally, water levels play a significant role in tunnel construction, as tunnels are often built underground or through mountains, where groundwater is prevalent. High levels of water can cause instability and weaken the tunnel structure, increasing the risk of collapse.

Monitoring water levels helps to identify potential risks early, allowing for prompt action to be taken to avoid accidents and keep workers safe.

Soil moisture is another critical factor that requires constant monitoring during a construction project.

Soil can become unstable if it is too dry or too wet, which, in turn, can lead to soil erosion and ground instability.

Monitoring soil moisture levels can help prevent these risks, as construction methods can be adjusted, and appropriate measures can be taken to prevent soil erosion and maintain ground stability.

Further, LTA, in conjunction with its supply partners, has access to hundreds of implements that can be used for “perfectly accurate, research-grade applications in industrial-type systems”.

LTA sources its “world-leading technology” from countries worldwide and incorporates it into its specially developed network and software, ensuring that it is using the latest and most advanced technology available.

This enables the company to provide construction clients with the best possible monitoring solutions, ensuring that buildings are constructed as safely as possible.

Double Impact

LTA offers its own long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN) device, which clients can use for data transmission, near real-time monitoring and connectivity, if they do not have adequate connectivity on site, says Campling.

LoRaWAN is a low-power wide area networking protocol built on top of the LoRa radio modulation technique.

Campling explains that the lower frequencies used by LoRaWAN allow for a much longer transmission range, which can supersede standard WiFi network ranges by up to 15 km.

The information gathered by the instruments and distributed by the LoRaWAN device can be saved off site for any historical assessments and situational trend analysis for future projects.

“By using the latest technology- enhanced devices and providing round-the-clock access to information, we can help to ensure that construction sites are maintained as safely as possible, reducing the risk of accidents and ensuring the successful completion of projects,” Campling concludes.