For many civil contractors, machine guidance meant high cost and complex systems. A Pune earthworks firm shows what changes when the barrier drops.
The challenge
Traditional earthwork on the project depended on grade checkers walking the cut with a staff and level. Every check stopped the machine, and any error surfaced only after the layer was already placed.
The contractor had looked at machine control before but the cost per excavator, plus training time, made the payback hard to justify on medium-size jobs.
The deployment
- EG10 guidance installed on two 20-tonne excavators in a single day.
- Design surfaces loaded straight from the consultant's DWG.
- Operators trained in one shift using the on-screen cut/fill guidance.
- V10L set as an on-site base with local calibration, no total station required.
The outcome
Grade checkers no longer stand in the trench: the operator sees cut and fill live on the display and reaches design in fewer passes.
- 31% reduction in rework volume across the first two months.
- Two grade checkers redeployed to survey and QA duties.
- Fuel savings from fewer passes recovered a measurable share of kit cost.
- Daily as-built volumes exported for client billing without extra survey visits.
In their words
"The system paid for itself before the road did. Operators trust the screen now — they stop when it says stop." — Site manager, Pune
