Haugland Group was able to upload, share, and manage complete digital drawing sets for review by other project teams and connect drawings through hyperlinks or specific areas or tasks such as RFIs or submittals. “As soon as the engineer and the architect updated a set of drawings, an email notification was sent to the entire team,” said Hansen. “Viewpoint eliminated the need to disseminate the informa- tion and the risk of not sending it to a particular sub only to discover eight hours later that they were going down the wrong path. Every person working on the project had visibility into the project’s progress and access to the most up-to-date plans, which is probably one of the biggest risks in a fast-track project like this.” Planning for Today and the Future With uncertainty lurking in the future of construction spending, many contractors are focusing on technology transformation as a way to dif- ferentiate their businesses and grow. On the other hand, companies that continue to resist could find themselves at a competitive disadvantage to those that modernize. For the sake of the future, uncertain or otherwise, investing in technol- ogy today can create valuable opportunities to efficiently step ahead of the competition. The investment paid off for the Haugland Group, al- lowing the company to take on and successfully execute a fast-moving project without hesitation. “In the past year, we went from a folder system on a shared drive that was not very uniform and required workers to VPN into the main of- fice, which often had connectivity issues, to a cloud-based solution that has helped our project managers, supers and subs connect in a more efficient, collaborative way,” said Hansen. “The decision to advance our use of technology before COVID-19 hit not only paid off on this project but will continue to help our business weather the storm, stay competitive and grow.” Haugland Group built an intensive care facility with 110 beds in the arena and four adjacent tents.
Haugland Group built four tent structures.
Interior of the converted arena to an ICU facility.
tizer were provided, and workers were educated on proper hygiene and sanitation, as well as how to wear face masks. Haugland Group completed the project in just three weeks, utilizing 85,000 man-hours. Diligence in safety paid off. The project closed out with zero in- juries and no cases of COVID-19. “Everyone took pride in coming together to make this project a success,” said Hansen. “It was truly a team effort.” Keeping Teams on the Same Page Although the pandemic highlighted operational and technology shortcomings for many construction businesses, Haugland Group’s investment in technology before the pandemic played a critical role in successfully completing this project. In 2019, Haugland Group be- gan using Viewpoint Team, a cloud-based collaboration solution that connects back office and field operations with its extended team of subcontractors, suppliers, architects, and owners. The real-time flow of data from the office to the field teams was criti- cal to keep up with the fast pace of the Westchester ACF project and ensure all the entities involved, including architects, laborers, foremen, supers, project managers and safety, were working from the most cur- rent, up-to-date information.
JENN SAID is a freelance writer covering the construction industry.
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may 2021
csengineermag.com
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