Whilst improvement works and lengthy construction times can be tedious for commuters, the importance of keeping a tight check on a transport tunnel is paramount. Within construction, usage, maintenance and decommission, tunnels represent a part of modern infrastructure whereby detail is absolutely crucial.
Inspection checks for OHS and QA are part of the whole life cycle for the building. Not only representing a combination of civil engineering, mathematics and geology, tunnels are a vital part of many transport forms for many reasons. Tunnels and the infrastructure they provide are relied upon by hundreds of thousands of people across Australia every day.
The inspection of a tunnel requires several activities across mapping, measuring and monitoring of key surroundings and constituent parts. Enhancing new technology and instruments at the forefront of science, means inspections require new ways of recording data and information. The industry has understandably started to adopt paperless methods and favour electronic inspection software in place of the aged printed checklists. New technology within mobile devices allows offline recording of data and capturing of information via standardised response, regular typing and on-screen drawing. Paperless safety Inspection apps also benefit from being able to provide all the correct documentation or instructions as attachments rather than numerous paper sheets that may be cumbersome at the time of inspection. This problem is increasingly removed by speech-to-text and image capture, requiring even less manual input with the inspector’s hands.
As several tunnels are often owned by one organisation, the use of new paperless inspection apps provides a centralised inspection method with seamless integration. Once the inspections are complete, data can be immediately synced with in-house databases or cloud-based computing. Paperless inspection checklists can be analysed quickly and if further information or corrective action is required, the checklists can be easily updated so that further information can be gathered, often whilst the inspection is still taking place. Repeat inspections and time-consuming methods no longer have to slow down the progress, shortening both construction, and maintenance times. Whilst retaining a high level of detail and quality, modern inspection methods through employing paperless inspection apps can improve tunnel inspections across its life cycles. Shorter, more accurate inspections mean less risk for maintenance and disruption. Going paperless keeps the traffic flowing and consumers happy.
