CUSTOMER STORY: Xsite® PAD as part of Tampereen Infra’s works site monitoring and measurement

In February, we visited Tampereen Infra‘s new residential area construction site to observe the Xsite® PAD measuring device in action. Located in Tesoma, where water and municipal technology preparation, as well as street construction, are currently underway, the site is scheduled to be ready by summer.

Juha-Matti Nieminen is the BIM coordinator and surveying supervisor at this site. At the time of the interview, he had been a BIM specialist at Tampereen Infra for six months. According to Nieminen, machine control is a standard feature on construction sites. Currently, three machines at this site have Xsite® machine control systems installed, while a couple of machines operate without them.

Overall, Tampereen Infra operates even dozens of machines concurrently on other projects. Some of these machines are owned by Tampereen Infra itself, while others are operated by subcontractors.

When asked how long he has been using the Xsite® PAD measuring device, Nieminen responds with laughter:

“Quite a long time, probably since 2019 when it has been in continuous use, but even randomly before that.”

Nieminen chose the Xsite® PAD because it allows him to see the same information as the excavators on the site. Although Tampereen Infra also uses other measuring devices besides Novatron’s systems, the Xsite® PAD provides the best overall view of the site’s current progress.

Nieminen recommends the Xsite® PAD, especially as the first measuring device if the site is equipped with Xsite® machine control systems. Before using the Xsite® PAD, Nieminen used other measuring devices and will continue to use them alongside the PAD. In his work, Nieminen mentions encountering almost all measuring devices from different manufacturers.

“At Tampereen Infra, there are a few pipe installers who use the Pad, and for them, it is the right tool. You don’t have to be so deep in the world of surveying to look at your work and take the as-builts. We have five Pads, three of which are used by installers on construction sites, one by a surveying supervisor, and one by me.”

Xsite® Manage and 3D-Win as part of project workflow

At the Tesoma site, Xsite® Manage cloud service is used as part of information management, and the software is also widely used at Tampereen Infra:

“Almost all projects are in Manage; it is what currently transfers all the material to the machines and extracts the as-builts. It’s like a basic tool for us. With Manage, measurement data can be smoothly transferred to excavators, it can be managed, and it functions as basic data management.”

Nieminen also uses 3D-Win, which he has been using since 2014. Once he got started and familiarized himself with it, it became a basic tool for Nieminen to do most of his work:

“At first, it was a confusing program, but then an experienced surveying supervisor advised me, and I attended 3D-Win training sessions. The machine control models are created with 3D-Win. Tampereen Infra created these models as their own work, and this is not a project where the models come directly from design.”