Factors in productivity and unit cost for advanced machine guidance

This paper presents an initial step in seeking to understand just how the adoption of advanced machine guidance technology, especially global positioning systems, leads to improvements in performance by the earthwork contractor. Two grading scenarios and one dozing scenario are examined based upon site observations and interviews with field personnel. Analysis demonstrated that productivity and unit cost improvements result from a reduction in surveying support, grade checking, an increase in operational efficiency, and a decrease in the number of passes. These results are in agreement with published results of benefits of 3D guidance over 2D guidance.