Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County’s Renewable Energy Facility 2 (REF2) is a $672,000,000 state-of-the-art waste-to-energy facility. The REF2 project is the first of its kind in more than 15 years and the most advanced and cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in North America.

REF 2 is estimated to reduce the amount of waste going to SWA’s landfill by up to 90 percent, ensuring the landfill lasts until 2053. While reducing waste, it generates 100 megawatts of electricity for the people in Palm Beach County. That is enough electricity to provide power for an estimated 44,000 homes and businesses, or about all the homes in Boca Raton.

At capacity, REF 2 will process more than 1 million tons (907,200,000 kg) of post-recycled municipal solid waste annually and 3,000 tons daily – more than 660 curbside trucks worth of trash every day!

WGI provided a topographic survey for improvements to REF2, a proposed Generator upgrade at the site. HD LiDAR Static Scanning was used to incorporate six targets set throughout the site by the Client. A point cloud was delivered in addition to the signed and sealed topographic plan view. The point cloud was used by many consultants to accurately portray their design in a 3D world of real conditions.

The static scan was controlled by benchmarks and targets digitally level from offsite control. This guaranteed that the accuracy of the data was maintained throughout the project. It allowed for a seamless workflow from point cloud registration to the final extraction of data.

Once designed, WGI provided the layout of the designed electrical support pedestals and the centerline of breakers and cabinets. A comparison of design to batter boards was found to be within allowance.