Port of Pietarsaari is a seaport on the western coast of Finland. The port handles about 1,4 million tonnages of freight annually, serving, for example, timber and paper industries’ needs. The port is using the GISGRO platform as a tool for digitising the port’s infrastructure.
We got a chance to interview Johanna Heinoja, Technical Manager of Port of Pietarsaari, about her thoughts on port digitalisation.
As Technical Manager, Heinoja is responsible for the port’s facilities and assets, ensuring they provide a safe environment for its operations. Daily maintenance management, asset information management, and port area development are examples of tasks included in Heinoja’s workday.
Information about the condition of the structures at one look
When Heinoja started at Port of Pietarsaari in 2017, the asset information and drawings were scattered in folders and files; some digitised to PDFs, and some were still on paper.
It was challenging to know which documents were up-to-date and whether some plans archived were ever even executed. Some 3D data from the seabed had been gathered to check the depths of the seaway, but the utilisation of this data was somewhat unclear.
“Before receiving the survey data and the report via the GISGRO platform, we used to send the point cloud data from seabed surveys to consultants or to an engineering company for further analysis and reporting, without being able to view the data ourselves”, Heinoja tells.
Port of Pietarsaari started using GISGRO when a survey, consisting of both the seabed and the quay structures, was delivered through the platform.
“The visual 3D model in GISGRO provided us significantly more information about the condition of the structures at one look in comparison to only receiving a report.”
All data in one place improves operations and makes communication smoother
The 3D data from underwater quay structures was a starting point for digitising the port. The next step was to gather photogrammetry data from the land areas with a drone and combine it with the underwater data already uploaded to GISGRO. Also, the asset data, like gates, bollards, and water posts, was added to the platform.
“The digital twin of the port helps enormously in planning. As an example, when planning a location for a new storage building, we used to confirm the measurements in different drawings and plans by actually going to the area. Now we can do the measurements in the office with GISGRO’s tools, being also able to pay attention to the transportation routes or location of the gates, for example”, as Heinoja describes the benefits of digitalisation.
Port of Pietarsaari plans to use GISGRO as a centralised database and communication tool.
“Our port personnel can check the information they need quickly from GISGRO. We can add more assets, drawings and for example quays’ load bearing capacities to the database. Photographs of assets requiring repairs can directly be added to GISGRO and tagged with an exact location. Work order can then be sent to subcontractors from GISGRO”, Heinoja lists the possibilities of GISGRO in port’s daily work.
Digitalisation is a warmly welcomed phenomenon in Port of Pietarsaari. It makes the daily work smoother and enhances communication among the people involved in the operations of the port.
“Yes, I certainly can recommend GISGRO to other ports. It is easy to use, and we didn’t need much introduction to get a hold of it”, Heinoja concludes.
Want to know more about GISGRO?
Book an online demo meeting with our expert to discuss more GISGRO benefits for your port.
Ville Mäkeläinen
CDBO
+358 44 513 2222
ville@gisgro.com
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