As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, the Croatian-Austrian startup PlanRadar, a company whose eponymous cloud platform has been designed to digitise construction processes, has been selected as the software supplier for the 786 million Australian dollars (500.45 million euros) Bridgewater Bridge project over the Derwent River in Australia.
The work of building the bridge is being managed by Burbury Consulting, and it is the largest infrastructural transport project in the entire history of Tasmania.
It’s interesting to note, as they pointed out from PlanRadar itself, that the Peljesac bridge project right here in Croatia was one of their main references for getting this job in distant Australia. Domagoj Dolinsek, the founder of the Croatian-Austrian startup PlanRadar, explained that this is their biggest project in Australia so far, and also one of the biggest in the world.
A strategic step forward
“We’ve been present in Australia for a year, and with last year’s investment in our company of 69 million US dollars, a stronger exit from the European market to the global market, primarily North America, the Middle East and Australia, was made possible,” explained Dolinsek.
The new Bridgewater Bridge project will use PlanRadar to manage all of its various inspections, quality assessments, task management, construction documentation, site audits and other key aspects of construction project management. PlanRadar pointed out that they are a leading player in this particular industry with over 120,000 clients in their global base using their property and construction project management software platform, and this is their first infrastructure mega-project in Australia.
“PlanRadar has previously been used in similar infrastructure projects across Europe, notably in the case of Peljesac Bridge, one of Europe’s largest construction projects, along with its surrounding network of roads and tunnels. The Peljesac Bridge project is still one of the largest mega infrastructure projects in southern Croatia, with a total value of 550 million euros,” they stated.
Bart Crowther, the Croatian-Austrian startup PlanRadar’s regional manager for Australia emphasised the importance of this project for their future presence in that part of the world. “The opportunity to work on any infrastructure project of this scale is truly extraordinary, and the positive impact on the Tasmanian community, both for the 22,000 daily users of the future bridge and for the improvement of freight and logistics routes on it, is extremely important to us. We’re looking forward to working with the Tasmanian Government and the Burbury Consulting teams and helping guide their day-to-day ongoing site inspection processes,” Crowther said. A Burbury Consulting representative said PlanRadar was chosen for this project because of its data-driven reporting capabilities.
“When it came time to choose our project inspection software, we unanimously chose PlanRadar because of their ease of use and incredibly detailed data-driven reporting capabilities that help us better manage timely reporting, inspections, audits and verifications,” it was stated.
Otherwise, this new Bridgewater Bridge will replace the existing 75-year-old cable-span bridge and will have a length of one kilometre in total. The main works on the bridge started last year, and it is estimated that it will be completed in 2024. The river crossing between Bridgewater and Granton in Tasmania has a long history and the first bridge was opened in 1848.
The existing Bridgewater Bridge was built back in 1946 and is the fourth bridge at this location, but the planning to replace this bridge began over 20 years ago, with many different designs and plans developed over that time, and the current project was completed and finally approved in 2018. The Croatian-Austrian startup PlanRadar, born from the idea of builder and founder Domagoj Dolinsek, enables the management of all construction documentation via mobile phones, tablets and computers, and is used in both the construction industry and on the real estate market.
By digitising the workflow, PlanRadar reduces the frequency of what could be costly and frustrating errors, saves time for all parties involved and enables huge efficiency gains: users report saving an average of seven working hours every week.
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