While the crane for ditch maintenance used to be mainly a tool, it is now also a mobile measuring instrument for the Drents Overijsselse Delta Water Board (WDODelta). This so-called Smart Cranes measure how wide and deep the ditches are while mowing and dredging. This saves time and provides continuous information about the condition of the waterways.
After a trial period, WDOdelta now has nineteen of these cranes in use. They use sensors and accurate GPS to measure the condition of the ditches while plants and sludge are being removed. WDODelta is the first water board in the Netherlands to implement the Smart Crane stake.
Klaas van der Wal, operator at the water board, controls one of the cranes equipped with the system. He is visibly proud of the equipment. “Yes, that’s my baby,” he says, laughing. “The possibilities are unprecedented. We receive so much new information. At the office they turn it into a gigantic, beautiful 3D picture.”
Where previously employees used prods and measuring tapes to record a profile every hundred meters, measuring now takes place automatically during regular maintenance. Betwin Post, project leader at WDODelta, emphasizes how much profit this yields. “In the past, someone would visit in advance and measure a cross profile every hundred meters. Then you can see how much time that takes if you have so many kilometers of waterway.”
The new cranes, on the other hand, measure continuously. “If Klaas covers an average of five kilometers per day, you will get a thousand cross sections,” says Post. “And you don’t have to do anything more or less; the system does it all itself.” The data is stored digitally and is immediately available for analysis. “We get to see fantastic images of what the waterway really looks like in practice.”
In the coming months, even more machines will be equipped with GPS-controlled measuring systems. According to Post, WDO Delta’s approach is being viewed with international interest. “We are currently among the top in this area. And we are all really proud of that.”
The next generation Smart Cranes According to Post, it could be equipped with thermal imaging cameras, temperature sensors or systems that detect nests in slopes. Such techniques should contribute to ecologically responsible maintenance and even better monitoring.