The idea that Automated Machine Guidance (AMG) has changed the way earthwork contractors move dirt and install utilities is not a novel one. Every earthwork contractor your organization works with has by now invested in some form of automated machine guidance or GPS rovers for layout and documentation. At Edgerton, we bought our first Automated Machine Guidance system in 2003. Today, all our production machines – backhoes, dozers, and graders – are equipped with AMG systems.
Initially, the main advantage of these systems was increased productivity, which in turn leads to lower-cost projects. On its own, a huge success and done well gives your operators a tremendous tool to perform their jobs at the highest level.
However, what few realize is that the real benefit of GPS technology on the machines actually comes from the related technologies and work processes that you must adopt in order to take full advantage of the GPS on the machine. As Automated Machine Guidance technology continued and continues, to mature Edgerton has developed the skills to support that technology, the impact that change has spread wider and wider – well beyond the realm of Construction and into the realm of Design.
When Edgerton purchased its first AMG system, we had an engineering team of ONE, doing both site design and layout. Today we have an entire team, made up of engineers and surveyors, working with your project from design to bid to construction to as-built closeout. The engineering team is the one constant in all phases of your project.