Partner Article

Tech firm unearths secrets of the past

A FIRM which uses laser technology to produce 3D architectural and engineering drawings has been drafted in by Channel 4’s Time Team crew to work on a castle in Jersey.

Tony Robinson and co called on Gateshead’s Digital Surveys to uncover the secrets of the past at the historic site of Mont Orgueil Castle, which for 600 years protected Jersey against a French invasion.

The company uses a groundbreaking device which is pointed at buildings, from as far away as 300 metres, and scans their exterior or interior.

The information is then transformed into static and animated graphics by special software – a process that is considerably quicker than more traditional mapping techniques..

The technology has become popular with organisations that are keen to record the appearance and design of heritage sites and has already been used to produce images of Alnwick Castle.

Mont Orgueil Castle was built in the early 13th Century and has since been used as a prison, spy station and seat of government - becoming symbolic of Jersey’s pride and independence.

The Time Team knew that activity at Mont Orgueil in the early Tudor period was poorly documented but believed that developments in artillery would have made the castle, originally designed for bow and arrow warfare, vulnerable to attack.

Director Ben Bennett said: “Trying to model the castle from scratch using traditional surveying techniques would have been a very slow process indeed and would have resulted in only a basic model, but with laser scanning, every bump and crack is revealed making it much more realistic.

“By scanning the exterior of the castle together with some of the internal rooms, we can provide precise wall thicknesses by cutting sections through the model at any point.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .