John Holland employs asset trackers for spoil management

With over 600 million tons of construction and demolition waste generated in the U.S. in 2018 alone (according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)), proper disposal is crucial. And it’s not just the spoil volume — the wide variety of waste types, from inert to hazardous, present serious logistical challenges for construction firms trying to adhere to the strict and regulated demands for disposal or recycling.

Having clear records of the amount and type of spoil, and where it has been discarded, can help companies avoid fines. Any mistakes can be costly — the EPA, for example, recently tripled the maximum fines for improper disposal to over $70,000 per day in California.

“Conventional processes for spoil tracking are labor intensive, time consuming and carry with them considerable risks of delay, overcharging, illegal spoil dumping and missed spoil re-use opportunities,” says Fazil Hassan, Digital Development at Australian construction company John Holland.

To combat these problems, John Holland has implemented its award-winning SpoilTRAC system to monitor the movement of construction site waste — from extraction all the way to disposal. Based on IoT technology company Digital Matter’s Oyster3 and Remora3 battery-powered geolocation asset tracking devices, this solution features an IP67-rated weatherproof, ultra-rugged housing to help protect it from extreme conditions while mounted on dump trucks.

The wireless operation of SpoilTRAC allows for easy installation, removal and transfer between vehicles. This flexibility is important in construction projects, which often involve multiple subcontractors with their own kit.

Outfitted with an on-board temperature sensor and three-axis accelerometer for movement detection, high-G events and rotation counting, the Oyster3 and Remora3 can also identify when the truck’s tray has moved into the predetermined tilt position, indicating that the spoil has been discarded.

Reliable asset monitoring

Employing Nordic’s nRF9160 SiP, the Oyster3 and Remora3 devices combine cellular network location data with GPS trilateration to precisely locate each disposal truck. The devices complement GPS with cell tower location fallback when GPS signals are unavailable. The nRF9160 SiP’s LTE-M/NB-IoT modem can then transmit the truck’s location to the SpoilTRAC platform.

This platform offers detailed information on the spoil category of each load, accompanied by a map illustrating loading and unloading points. Because construction sites and licensed landfills are geofenced and tagged with the classification of refuse, if a contaminated load is dropped in the wrong location an illegal dumping alert is triggered.

By facilitating overall waste management, the platform encourages spoil reuse across projects, optimizes plant and personnel utilization, and presents opportunities for enhanced sustainability outcomes. Additionally, the use of cellular connectivity to transfer data to the platform ensures robust coverage while trucks are on the move.

“The cellular functionality of the nRF9160 made it easier to build a solution, as the amount of upload and download data is not constrained to the same extent as other LPWAN tech,” explains Ken Everett, CEO at Digital Matter.

“[For example], the Remora3 is capable of ‘second-by-second’ [near real-time] tracking — which is unique on a battery-powered device — to support extended aggressive reporting requirements including highly accurate speed reporting, as well as run hour and odometer monitoring on mobile assets,” explains Everett.

“The solution is perfect for any asset which requires aggressive long-term tracking with ‘low touch’ requirements — for example, tracking heavy machinery that doesn’t have an easily accessible power source,” says Everett.

Further advantages

Beyond providing the robust connectivity for efficient data transfer, the Nordic nRF9160 SiP delivers further advantages to the Digital Matter solutions.

“It also allows us to manage and update the devices in the field. We provide over-the-air firmware updates as well as other device management functions,” says Everett.

Battery life was also a critical factor when selecting the Nordic SiP, according to Everett. “Extending product lifetime significantly reduces operational costs for businesses — and eliminates the logistical nightmare of sourcing and coordinating battery changes, especially across large deployments,” he explains.

The Oyster3 tracker boasts a battery life of up to ten years with daily position updates, or seven years with movement based location updates, and issues alerts when the battery level is low. The Remora3 features a “deploy once” battery life allowing it to perform typical movement-based tracking for over ten years.

“Digital Matter went through an extensive analysis of competing cellular modems and decided on the nRF9160 due to its feature set and, most importantly, the very low power operation,” adds Everett. “Nordic has done an excellent job in achieving the lowest power levels of all modules evaluated.”

Need to Know

The Nordic nRF9160 offers excellent low power cellular operation, caters for both LTE-M and NB-IoT, and allows Digital Matter to put its application code on to the SiP, thereby doing away with the need for an external microcontroller.

Top image credit: iStock.com/ugurhan