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 1995 NOVA Award Winners |
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Live Line Sewer Cleaning System The cleaning of large diameter sewer lines (18" diameter and up) has been labor and equipment intensive, has required large amounts of water, and is usually disruptive to traffic traveling above the in-street utility lines. The Live Line Sewer Cleaning System, also known as "Hydro-Hog", combines ultra-high pressure water-jet cleaning with water recycling, in a self-contained mobile unit with a minimal street "footprint". The system includes two units: a truck mounted high pressure water pump, hose reels, and the Hydro-Hog cleaning head; and a trailer mounted suction pump with solids screening, filters, and a conveyor belt to offload extracted solid waste to a waiting truck. The entire rig is operated by just three men. In use, the Hydro-Hog is lowered on its high-pressure hose into the sewer line where it floats just below the surface. The Hydro-Hog is run to the far end of the pipe length that will be cleaned. The suction pump is then lowered into the sewer. To clean, water is blasted from the Hydro-Hog at 25,000 psi and 250 gpm, forming a high-energy cone of water that both cuts away accumulated debris and funnels it to the suction pump as the hog is drawn backward to the pump. As the hog strips and moves solids to the pump, the pump moves water and solids to the surface where they receive multiple filtering treatments. Solids are offloaded to waiting trucks. The filtered water is then returned to the high-pressure pump where it is recycled for injection in the Hydro-Hog. After successful application in tens of thousands of feet of sewer line, much of it in the desert Southwest, the Live Line System has proved it saves cleaning time, costs less, is less disruptive to traffic, prevents pipe damage, and saves millions of gallons of water. Primarily Responsible:
Odyssey Real-Time Measurement System Gathering accurate 3-D field measurements for a construction project is time consuming, and it relies heavily on operators of exceptional skill to reduce error. Converting this data efficiently for use in a CAD system is equally complex and limited by the compatibility of the measuring system and the CAD system. The Odyssey Real-Time Measurement System provides a model for a dramatic advance in the accuracy, usefulness, and rapid collection of spatial measurements, and it greatly reduces the human factor in data collection. An Odyssey System includes two or more portable infrared-laser transmitters and a receiver attached to a hand-held CAD readout (computer for data collection and retrieval). The receiver is a rod with attached optics. As the tip of the rod is moved about, its position is constantly updated by triangulation with the laser transmitters and displayed on the attached CAD readout. The real-time positioning of the receiver allows the operator to move efficiently about a site, quickly locating and marking key positions in all three dimensions on the attached CAD unit. Developed by the members of the Consortium for Advanced Positioning Systems (CAPS), Odyssey enables CAD-based dimensioning, layout, and modeling to be performed directly in the field. The flexibility and accuracy of the Odyssey System are especially helpful in establishing accurate positions for equipment, piping, and structural members inside a building, where traditional methods are limited by restricted access and poor sight lines. Primarily Responsible:
Tunnel Roof Casting Machines The Bird Island Flats Tunnel Project involved the construction of more than a mile of reinforced concrete cut-and-cover tunnel adjacent to Boston's Logan International Airport. The $290 million tunnel project is one segment of the Boston Central Artery Project. Designed primarily for poured-in-place construction, the tunnels' dimensions vary greatly. Concrete ceiling heights vary, and width ranges from 40 feet to more than 90 feet. Ceiling thickness was up to 9 feet. Further complicating the fabrication of reusable forms were 45° fillets at the wall-ceiling joint and a tunnel floor that sloped both transversely and longitudinally. To accommodate these dimensional challenges, Modern/Obayashi turned to Conesco Industries to develop a series of traveling, configurable form machines. Three sizes of machines were developed. Each includes a self-powered traveler module to move the formwork and a hydraulically adjusted form module with an integral shoring system that adjusts for transport or to support the poured-in-place loads. In use, a traveler moves under a form module, supports it as the shoring is "retracted", and hydraulically strips it from the previously cast concrete. The traveler carries forms and shoring to the next location and hydraulically positions them in all coordinates. The shoring is lowered and the traveler is withdrawn, creating a passageway for workers and equipment. These machines significantly increased worker safety and reduced casting turnaround from two weeks to just one-saving 36 weeks, 135,000 man hours, and $4.8 million on the project. Flexibility to accommodate a constantly changing tunnel profile, and a self-mobilizing design that required minimal set up and takedown were the key to cutting more than 8 months from the original schedule. Primarily Responsible: |
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Innovation Forum, Inc.® Updated 07/26/01 by RICarr |
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