Van Oord Opts for Coda Octopus Real Time 3D Sonar

Van Oord has successfully completed an impressive ground improvement project for Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) with the help of Coda Octopus real time 3D sonar, the Echoscope.

The project, which started in 2014, involved the reclamation of 65 million cubic meters of sand and extensive soil improvement.

Part of the scope was the construction of revetments and breakwaters, which contain some 24,000 CORE-LOC armor units of 1m³. The armor units were developed and patented in the mid-1990s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory.

The excavator used for placing the CORE-LOC units was equipped with a Coda Octopus Echoscope 3D imaging sonar that provided the operator with real time guidance information during placement below the waterline.

By using the hydraulic excavator in combination with an Echoscope, Van Oord realized significant productivity gains, achieving record production rates of up to 200 units per day.

Blair Cunningham, President of Technology, stated “this is a significant productivity achievement and yet another great example of the return on investments that our customers are making in employing the Echoscope technology on these types of projects.”

“We continue to invest to enhance our capabilities in the breakwater sector including advancement of our proprietary top end software solution, Construction Monitoring Software, which embeds patented algorithms which not only tracks the blocks into position to ensure accurate placement but also monitors any disruption of the slope or movement of previously laid blocks – a unique feature only afforded by the Coda Octopus Echoscope and CMS solution,” added Cunningham.

According to him, the software package contains full reporting capability including the pre-laid and as-laid block information for such breakwater constructions and maintenance.