High Level and Accurate Laser Scanning at Nottinghamshire County Hall

Survey Hub Limited are a multidisciplinary survey company specialising in Land, Property and Compliance. Founded in 2008 under their original name Pegasus, Survey Hub have grown rapidly over the past 10 years, expanding the surveys they undertake in-house, as clients have required them to provide a more diverse array of surveys to assist them on projects big & small.

Survey Hub believe that surveying solutions should be hassle free, with a strong dedication to complete service satisfaction on all their surveys, from the moment clients request a quote, down to the surveyor who carries out the work. They work with property professionals, owners, agents, investors and developers to provide as many surveys under one roof as possible to the highest possible standards. Their main in-house survey disciplines consist of teams for Measured Building Surveys, Land Surveys, Underground Utilities & CCTV Drainage, Revit and 3D Modelling, EPC assessments and Asbestos Management Surveys.

For a full a full range of their available services please visit www.surveyhub.co.uk

Nottinghamshire County Hall, located on the south bank of the River Trent at West Bridgford in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, England, serves as the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Council, the upper tier local authority with jurisdiction across the whole of Nottinghamshire, with the exception of the City of Nottingham itself.

During much of the 20th century, the county council was based at the old Shire Hall in the Lace Market in Central Nottingham. After deciding that the existing premises were inadequate for their needs, county leaders decided to procure a new building, the site they selected had previously been occupied by the Castle Cricket Ground. The foundation stone was laid in 1939, with construction completed in 1954 due to delays caused by the Second World War.

The Council approached Survey Hub with a project scope to create a highly detailed digital 3D Revit model of the County Hall building. The model needed to be both accurately measured via laser scanning techniques, as well quickly captured within a window of opportunity for access whilst the building was scheduled to be vacated.

“We needed to include the building modelling, topographic survey and underground utility information within our end product, so that the client had a digital representation of site within Revit Software. I have been in the Geomatics trade for a total of 14 years and have come across Leica products at every stage of my development.”

Lee Stevenson – Director, Survey Hub

Down to the smallest details

The exterior of the Nottinghamshire County Hall with the Leica ScanStation P-Series

Survey Hub knew the project specification was to provide a Revit model of the Nottingham County Hall building in high detail.

This included the Architrave beams and material finishes, thus they required laser scanners that not only had the ability to colour the point cloud, but also to capture detail in good quality to enable our modelling team to extract the required detail.

They also needed a solution to capture the required data as quickly as possible, working to the tight time frames set by the council to work whilst the building would be unoccupied.

To overcome the challenges of the project, Survey Hub utilised a pair of Leica ScanStation P-Series laser scanning solutions. Two members of the Survey Hub and Leica teams completed an external traverse loop around the building perimeter with traversed stairwells and cross braces throughout the building floors.

Whilst this was being completed, extra team members proceeded to capture the detail with the P-Series scanners.

Once all the traverse scanning was complete and registered using Leica Cyclone CORE, the team linked the scan data back to the original traverse system to ensure accuracy remained high.

“We used the Leica P-Series laser scanners with I-Star equipment to capture the cloud data. We knew the accuracy of the cloud needed to be top notch. To ensure we captured the data quickly to the level of detail we required, we utilised the I-Star bolt on. The P-Series is a favourite of mine as the dual axis compensator stands us in good stead for an accurate registration.”

The Leica ScanStation P-Series working to scan the interior stairwells of Nottingham County Hall

High Speed, High Quality

An innovative combination of advanced time-of-flight range measurement, plus modern Waveform Digitising (WFD) technology enables the Leica ScanStation P-Series to achieve ultra-high scan speeds and low-noise performance at extended range (to 120 m). Together with high-accuracy angular measurements and survey-grade tilt compensation, Leica ScanStation P-Series delivers unprecedented ultra-high-speed scan data quality for as-built and scene surveys.

The Leica ScanStation P-Series is the ideal instrument when very short time windows are available for capturing high-definition survey data or when ultra-high density, full dome scan data is needed for client deliverables. The ScanStation P-Series lets users reap the benefits of applying ultra-high-speed scanning for even more sites and projects. The Leica ScanStation P-Series features a valuable “Check & Adjust” capability, a simple procedure that can be completed within minutes. This improves system reliability and accuracy, helps fulfil the ISO standards and completes the work with greater confidence. For more details, please read the ScanStation Check & Adjust specification sheet.

Leica Cyclone is the market-leading point cloud processing software. It is a family of software modules that provides the widest set of work process options for 3D laser scanning projects in engineering, surveying, construction and related applications. For organisations such as the Survey Hub, that needed to add point cloud data to their process, Leica Cyclone created all of the deliverables they needed and served them seamlessly throughout the project. Unlike other scanning providers, the Cyclone ecosystem efficiently delivered on the entire set of project requirements.

A complete 3D Revit model, rendered from the data captured by the P-Series and processed with Leica Cyclone

A view to the future

With the success of the project, Survey Hub have now purchased a Leica RTC360 LT . This will enable them to continue to utilise their existing Leica P-Series scanners for the purposes of external and internal traverse loops and cross braces, whilst infilling data capture on large projects with the Leica RTC360 LT.

The Leica RTC360 3D laser scanner, in which Survey Hub have also invested

Leica Geosystems – when it has to be right

Whether you are working in surveying, construction, metrology, or any other engineers and measurement professionals, you need reliable measurements. So when it has to be right, professionals trust Leica Geosystems to help them collect, analyse, and present spatial information. With over 200 years of pioneering solutions to measure the world, Leica Geosystems is best known for its broad array of products that capture data accurately, model quickly, analyse easily, and visualise and present spatial information even in 3D. Those who use Leica Geosystems products every day trust them for their dependability, the value they deliver, and the superior customer support. Precision, value, and service from Leica Geosystems.

Hexagon – Shaping Smart Change

Hexagon is a leading global provider of information technology solutions that drive productivity and quality across geospatial and industrial landscapes. Hexagon’s solutions integrate sensors, software, domain knowledge and customer workflows into intelligent information ecosystems that deliver actionable information. They are used in a broad range of vital industries.

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