Fugro's newly digitised marine cone penetration test (CPT) workflow provides secure access to validated marine site characterisation information within 60 minutes of acquiring the geo-data, compared to the norm of up to 24 hours. The new synchronised, on-premise and cloud-based CPT dataflow process enables faster, more informed decision-making, enhances collaborative working and reduces project risk.

Site-specific soil data is on the critical path for offshore foundation design and turbine manufacture. Delayed access to CPT geo-data or the downstream use of superseded versions can result in unoptimised foundation design and create significant financial and scheduling risks. Given the rapid uptake in the offshore wind market, Fugro has optimised its CPT geo-data workflow.

Fugro now automatically links the flow of CPT geo-data from acquisition, through processing and validation, to its cloud-based delivery platform Gaia.Hub. This integrated approach means that CPT geo-data is available in Gaia.Hub within one hour of acquisition. Clients are notified automatically, so can quickly view and access the data and start using it in their ground modelling and foundation design processes.

The status of all relevant data is always visible to all parties. Once Fugro's geotechnical engineer has performed a quality check and provided final approval, the status is automatically updated to ‘completed' (including in the delivery portals) and an email notification is automatically sent to the project team. Rapid access to accurate, up-to-date data is a game-changer for clients because they can make informed decisions more quickly with a positive impact on their project schedule.

Benefits

Fugro's new approach has many notable advantages, including:

• Faster delivery of validated CPT data at scale - Fugro streams validated CPT geo-data within one hour of acquisition… and sometimes within 15 minutes
• Secure storage - all information is safely stored in Fugro's cloud-based central vault
• Remote access - clients can set permission levels for viewing and/or downloading files within their organisation. Client project teams can access the latest geo-data from anywhere and at any time
• A single source of truth - problems associated with version control and organising the distribution of large datasets within the client organisation are eradicated because all data is logically organised and available in the cloud
• Automated email notifications - the entire project team is kept in the loop on developments and newly available data. The notifications also dramatically improve status visibility, enabling all parties to gauge progress
• Reduced risk - the latest geo-data can be accessed from any location. This reduces exposure to the HSSE risks associated with offshore testing.

Global implementation

Around the world, the new CPT workflow is used by Fugro's offshore and onshore teams as their primary tool for CPT data management, processing, validation and reporting. In November 2021, Fugro performed around 2,000 marine CPTs - and 96 per cent of them used the new, fully digitalised workflow. This new approach ensures that Fugro delivers the data and insights required at every stage of the client's project life cycle, to support informed decision-making and reduce project risk.

Fugro identified three factors that were critical to the workflow's rapid and successful global roll-out:

• Start with the end in mind - Fugro liaised closely with clients to clarify the project outcomes, then made sure that its strategy, programmes and solutions all stemmed direct from the client perspective and deliverables
• Work iteratively - Fugro trialled new functionalities many times with users and performed small-scale implementations, checking at each stage that its changes delivered the anticipated client benefits
• Support the user - Fugro used feedback from its teams and clients to develop a workflow that was user-friendly, efficient and effective for all parties.

Fugro is continuing to enhance the CPT digital workflow and its three priorities are to expand it to include all its in situ test types; improve the metadata flow, to enable different applications to connect and share data automatically; and enhance the performance and useability of in situ test datasets in the overall geotechnical workflow.

Got a story? Email: duncan.moore@aspermontmedia.com