FUTURE TRENDS COVER STORY Holograms to Mitigate Risks New and emerging technologies developed in the computer gaming industry are suddenly providing game-changing opportunities for data presentation and collaborative experiences in construction projects. Augmented reality offers a new way of looking at subsurface and other data. When appropriately applied to foundation projects, augmented reality can enhance the understanding of everyone from owners to designers, project managers and contractors. The hologram used is unlike an image from a “Star Wars” movie. Rather, it is built from real 3D and 4D data in real space, and it can be scaled or kept true to size. Viewers can approach a holographic model in an intuitive way to look at values such as those from standard penetration tests (SPT) and cone penetration tests (CPT), and can focus as they choose on different aspects of the subsurface and surface layers of the virtual image, while communicating with each other about a project in real time. This article broadly explores the use of augmented reality, which has primarily been used in large specialty projects so far. A case study is included of a hologram model used to convey understandings of the subsurface conditions of a bridge site in Rice, Minnesota. This approach is also applicable to non-transportation structures, earthworks and excavations, as a contrast to the current practice of sharing information in a geotechnical report. Unexplored places vastly outnumber the sampled and tested ones in many projects, and widely spaced boreholes with intermittent tests and samples are the norm. By using holograms to generate a global model of subsurface data on a project, viewers can not only enhance project communication, but also identify pockets of unknowns, and therefore, areas of greater risk. The 3D holographic model is used to directly visualize underground features to enhance stakeholders’ grasp of project details. The purpose of doing this is to reduce risk — the risk that comes from misunderstandings about geotechnical conditions, which are considered a major source of project risk. Hologram Benefits Transportation and other projects often are developed by multidisciplinary groups where the risks in one discipline, such as geotechnical engineering, can propagate to other functional areas. A 3D holographic model can be used to improve information sharing and risk mitigation by allowing for shared exploration of 16 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAY/JUNE 2020 AUTHORS Scott A. Anderson, Ph.D., P.E., BGC Engineering, Benjamin S. Rivers, P.E., and Silas Nichols, P.E., Federal Highway Administration, and Derrick D. Dasenbrock, P.E., D.GE, Minnesota Department of Transportation S • P E E C U I S A S L I I L S A S I U C E E P • S
