Geo Plus will be first in the Netherlands to use laser scanning for all kinds of objects that can be approached from waterways, such as bridges, locks, ports, wharfs, groynes, sheet-pile walls above the water line, etc. (see also for sheet-pile walls below the water line).

The Full Circle laser scanner Riegl VMX-250 of Riegl, combined with Hydrins III of IXSEA and the additional Geo Plus measuring equipment constitute a high-quality platform for gathering information from the water surface.

All systems are integrated in the data acquisition and processing system QINSy of QPS in Zeist. The sensor data are processed in real time into a fully geo-referenced scatter plot. QINSy gives all system data a very accurate UTC time with an accuracy of less than one millisecond. The system is able to read and process more than 300,000 data points per second in real time. QINSy is unique in that it can process laser and multibeam data simultaneously. That makes costly and time-consuming post-processing a thing of the past.

Leica HDS Cyclone 7 is used to quickly transform the eventually obtained scatter plot into e.g. 3D CAD models and 3D mapping materials. As an important feature, Leica HDS Cyclone is able to manage the very large amounts of data collected during the laser scanning process. Many consider Leica HDS Cyclone as the market standard when it comes to collecting, visualising, processing / adapting and analysing 3D scatter plot data. Leica Cyclone allows the user to examine the gigabytes of scatter plot data on location to determine whether all required information has been obtained and the data is correct. Leica HDS Cyclone is subsequently used to transform the data into the required final product for the client, for instance a 3D CAD model of the measured wharf or bridge.

For this purpose, Geo Plus has developed a mobile set-up for laser scanning that can operate on all ships of the firm. Perfect calibration of the set-up is also possible.

Calculating the headroom under bridges.

A topical application of this newly developed laser scanning technology is the measurement of vertical clearance under bridges. The lowest point of a bridge (the height in relation to NAP - Normal Amsterdam Water Level) can be worked out by very accurately (<2 cm) scanning the bottom of a bridge. The water level at the location is subsequently deducted to calculate the headroom of the bridge. Such accurately calculated headroom is of vital importance to the inland shipping trade, of course. Any sagging and cracking can also be detected by measuring the bridge repeatedly over a lengthy period of time. The great advantages of the new laser scanning method over the conventional way using a tachymeter are the much higher speed and the subsequent lower costs.