Why 3D Scanning Matters Before Mining Equipment, Conveyor and Chute Upgrades

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Reducing fabrication uncertainty, improving equipment fit-up and supporting mining shutdown planning. The Challenge of Modifying Existing Mining Equipment Mining processing plants rarely remain exactly as they were originally designed. Over time, conveyors are modified, transfer chutes are replaced, platforms are installed and mechanical equipment is upgraded to meet changing production requirements. Unfortunately, the original engineering drawings may not reflect these modifications. For maintenance superintendents, project engineers and shutdown planners, this creates an important question: How can new equipment be designed and fabricated to fit an existing mining plant when the installed geometry is uncertain? One practical solution is to use 3D LiDAR scanning before engineering design begins. Hamilton By Design combines 3D scanning, point cloud processing, mechanical engineering and CAD modelling to support mining equipment modifications across Australia. Read the full engineering ...

CHPP Shutdowns: Why 3D Scanning Is the Difference Between Fit-Up and Rework

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 CHPP Shutdowns: Why 3D Scanning Is the Difference Between Fit-Up and Rework

Coal Handling and Preparation Plants (CHPPs) are unforgiving environments when it comes to shutdown upgrades. Every conveyor, chute, screen, and pipe tie-in has to fit first time — because once the plant is down, the clock is burning money by the minute.

Yet many shutdown projects are still planned using outdated drawings and site sketches that don’t reflect the reality of years of modifications, wear, and emergency repairs.

That gap between “what’s drawn” and “what’s actually there” is where shutdown budgets disappear.

Scanning Turns Assumptions into Facts

3D LiDAR scanning captures the true as-built condition of a CHPP before design and fabrication begin. Instead of guessing clearances around:

  • transfer chutes

  • structural steel

  • conveyor stringers

  • pipework and services

  • access platforms

engineers and fabricators work from a millimetre-accurate point cloud.

This means new components can be designed to the plant — not to a drawing created ten years ago.

Why CHPPs Are High Risk for Fit-Up

CHPPs change constantly:

  • liners are replaced

  • drives are upgraded

  • guards are modified

  • emergency repairs alter geometry

  • structures move under load

By the next shutdown, the plant rarely resembles the original model. Fabricating without a current scan is effectively hoping everything lines up on the day.

Hope is not a shutdown strategy.

The Real Cost of Getting It Wrong

When something doesn’t fit during a CHPP outage:

  • cranes sit idle

  • crews wait for rework

  • hot works increase

  • safety risk rises

  • production restart is delayed

A few hours of pre-shutdown scanning can remove weeks of uncertainty.



See the Full Guide

We’ve published a detailed article showing how engineering-led 3D scanning supports CHPP shutdowns from capture → design → fabrication → installation:

šŸ‘‰ https://www.hamiltonbydesign.com.au/chpp-3d-scanning-shutdowns/


CAD and modelling services button with 3D cube wireframe design

3D scanning services button with LiDAR scanner and point cloud wireframe model

Mechanical engineering services button with pump system CAD model and industrial wireframe design


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