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Use case · Depth and trench

Prove trench depth and dimensions, span by span

Depth is where construction compliance is won or lost. SmartBuild captures HDD bore alignment and open-trench depth and dimensions at the moment of construction, at sub-5cm captured-point accuracy, so the record is built into the work rather than reconstructed in an office later.

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The job

Depth is the claim that pays the invoice

Across a fiber rollout, depth is the first thing an audit checks and the first place corners get cut. The original SmartBuild job is the hardest part of that build to prove: horizontal directional drilling bore alignment under the ground, and open-trench depth and dimensions along the route. Both have to land against a right-of-way depth standard, typically around 1.2m in the right-of-way and 1.65m under the carriageway.

When that depth is recorded by hand at the end of a long day, the record drifts from the dig. Contractors rush month-end and cut corners on depth, compaction and docs. Photos get reused across stretches. The number that reaches the invoice is the number nobody can stand behind.

What SmartBuild captures

Bore and trench, proven where the work happens

  1. 01

    Bore alignment, span by span

    Horizontal directional drilling depth and path captured along the bore, so the trenchless run is provable against the depth standard rather than estimated after the fact.

  2. 02

    Depth and dimensions in the open cut

    Trench depth and dimensions captured in the open trench, pinned to the exact location they were measured, at sub-5cm captured-point accuracy.

  3. 03

    Readout extracted, not retyped

    The Digitrak locator readout is read straight from the image by the app, so the depth value comes from the device, with no manual entry to fabricate.

  4. 04

    Measured against the standard

    Every captured depth is read against the right-of-way norm, so a shortfall surfaces at the dig instead of at an audit months later.

Why the number can be trusted

Accuracy and cadence, captured as the work happens

SmartBuild is operations-first: compliance is a property of the work, captured at the action, not reconstructed in an office. The accuracy module decodes the GNSS receiver output (NMEA) and applies CORS network corrections, with post-processed kinematic correction for the highest grade. The device-agnostic story is the point: any conformant receiver feeds the app, with no SDK lock-in, and a higher-grade SmartMeasure receiver is available where the work needs it.

Sub-5cm captured-point accuracy target, CORS-corrected
Every 9m depth captured along the route, configurable to the spec
At source read from the device, no manual entry to fabricate

Depth, pinned to where it was dug.

Each reading lands at its exact location and is read against the right-of-way standard, so the depth record is the dig itself, not a number reconstructed from memory.

What it prevents

The cost of a depth that cannot be proven

When depth is captured at source, the failures that follow a fabricated record stop having room to form. Audits find issues months later when remediation is many times the original cost, and the same crews dig multiple pits to find their own fiber. A trusted depth record removes that exposure, framed as outcomes rather than blame.

  1. 01

    Invoice rejection

    A depth that cannot be proven against the standard is a line item the client can hold back.

  2. 02

    Audit penalties

    Shortfalls found at audit, long after the trench is closed, when remediation costs far more than the original dig.

  3. 03

    Multi-pit excavation

    Without precise records, crews dig several pits to find their own fiber; a captured location turns that into a single dig.

Build status

What is proven today

SmartBuild is mid-build, with v1 in progress. We are not pointing at customer outcomes that do not yet exist. What is real today is the capture engine and the computer-vision validation behind it: six computer-vision use cases are proven as proofs of concept, including trench depth, surface, water and debris, which is exactly the work this page describes.

Proven as POC 6 computer-vision use cases proven as proofs of concept, including trench depth, surface, water and debris
  • Trench depth
  • Surface and debris
  • Duct color and tape
  • Manhole splice and clamp
  • Last-mile cable clips
  • Pole equipment ID
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See depth captured at the moment of construction.

Walk through how SmartBuild captures bore and trench depth against right-of-way standards, span by span.

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