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A £100k investment by a local businessman in the latest 3D laser scanning equipment is already paying off with contracts as far afield as Africa on the horizon while closer to home, it is the Keep at Alnwick Castle which has come under close scrutiny. Cheswick family man, Peter Bennett who runs Digital Surveys with his son, Ben, believes that the new 3D laser scanner offers real improvements over traditional surveying methods – so much so, that it is changing the way in which surveyors work and collect data and looks set to replace traditional surveying techniques in the future. It can be used from as far away as 300 metres and the information it records is then quickly transformed into a dimensionally accurate virtual model. Recently, Digital Surveys has undertaken a survey for Northumberland Estates as part of its ongoing conservation strategy for Alnwick Castle. They won the work to survey the Keep after a competitive tender. Robin Smeaton, building surveyor for Northumberland Estates who commissioned the survey, commented “We have used other surveying methods in the past for this type of work but the main keep has many shapes and changes of direction, so the driver for us as part of our conservation strategy, was to be able to produce working drawings that could be submitted to English Heritage as part of a planning application.  The 3D laser scanner provided exactly the quality of image and accuracy we needed for this purpose. “I am sure we will be able to use this system again in the future.” Digital Surveys has been established since 1987 and employs six staff at its office in Gateshead.  Peter Bennett said: “Ben has a trip to Dallas planned later this month to make contact with some global engineering and construction companies and a couple of new commissions in Africa’s oil and gas sector are looking likely, so the investment is already starting to pay off. “The laser scanner is so versatile.  In the last month we have been creating 3D animations of the National Railway Museum in York and we have also been commissioned to survey a 2.5km stretch of the M1 as part of an ongoing traffic flow improvement strategy. "We are confident that the investment will bring in some new work for the firm because its potential is vast and might include creating an accurate architectural drawing, generating engineering plans, digitally preserving heritage sites by creating a snapshot in time or carrying out virtual inspections of nuclear installations.” << back to news