How Nova Rota do Oeste cut its data turnaround from 14 days to 48 hours on Brasil’s largest road project

The challenge: Managing massive scale with slow, disconnected data

With “projects of a scale rarely seen in the country,” Paulo’s team was struggling. Their traditional methods for managing site data were manual, inefficient, and slow.

Before Propeller, they had no central project hub to connect the office to the field. The team relied on sharing plotted files and PDF drawings through cloud storage. This made it difficult to track progress, verify work, or make quick decisions.

The biggest bottleneck? Data processing.

Surveyors would capture data with RTK or total stations and send it to the engineering department. Then, they’d wait.

The average turnaround time for results ranged from 7 to 14 days.”—Paulo Eduardo Palma Baptista, Construction Coordinator, Nova Rota do Oeste

That lag meant that by the time Paulo’s team got answers, the site had already changed. This workflow wasn’t just slow; it was risky. Traditional ground surveys required professionals to work in direct contact with road traffic.

The whole process was more manual, less agile, and less precise, creating a constant drag on the project’s efficiency and safety.

The solution: A centralized platform for high-precision, real-time insights

Nova Rota do Oeste needed a solution that could keep up. The team’s primary goals were to get faster earthwork volumes, monitor project compliance against design, and centralize information for everyone involved.

After evaluating the market, they chose the Propeller platform. Why? The fast data turnaround, the human analysis of surveys, and the ability to process large volumes at a competitive cost.

Working closely with their regional partner, SITECH Brasil, Nova Rota do Oeste began implementation.

The support provided by SITECH Brasil has been comprehensive” says Paulo, “with ongoing training and guidance to ensure optimal use optimal use of the platform.”

Given the project’s massive scale, implementation took about 16 weeks. It involved deploying 400 control points and training the team to automate the workflow. Today, design and planning engineers use the platform directly, while management and the board use the data for strategic decisions.

Favorite features and workflows

For Nova Rota do Oeste, Propeller’s value is in its practical, everyday applications that provide immediate clarity. Paulo’s team relies heavily on several key tools:

• Design validation: Volume calculations and cross-sections are their most-used tools. They use comparisons with detailed project plans to verify the volumes of work completed against the design.
• Flood to level analysis: They use the hydrology tools, which offer a more realistic perception of terrain behavior during the rainy season.
• Field collaboration: The team uses the Propeller mobile app in the field to identify drift elements and to orient operators in relation to the project.
• AI-powered efficiency: A new feature has also made a significant impact. “Selecting stacks of data using AI has been very useful, optimizing time and improving report preparation,” Paulo notes.

The result: Faster, safer, and more confident decision-making

The impact of adopting Propeller was immediate and dramatic. The one to two week wait for data is gone. “The platform has been fundamental for strategic decision-making,” Paulo states.

“In cases of stretches up to 60 km, we can obtain information on production, remaining volumes, and project discrepancies in less than 48 hours. Something unthinkable a short time ago.”

This speed translates directly into team efficiency.

Without the [Propeller] platform, we would need to at least double the size of the team to achieve the same level of accuracy and speed.” —Paulo Eduardo Palma Baptista, Construction Coordinator, Nova Rota do Oeste

The platform has also delivered significant safety gains, as drone data capture eliminates the need for professionals to be in direct contact with road traffic.

Finding the 175% discrepancy

The platform’s greatest value is providing a single source of truth, building what Paulo calls “a high level of trust.”

That trust was put to the test on a 16.3 km stretch of the project.

A contractor submitted their earthwork volumes for planning. When Paulo’s team compared the contractor’s numbers to the Propeller data, they found a massive problem: the contractor’s volume was 175% greater than what the platform showed.

“At that moment, we verified the calculation methodology,” Paulo explains. “It was found that the contractor’s engineering team had made an error in the way of calculating. After correcting the information, using the same data and adjusting only the equation, the difference dropped to just 2%.”

This single catch saved the project from a significant planning and financial error, proving the platform’s ROI.

Today, Nova Rota do Oeste has greater control and alignment between planning and execution than ever before. “Confidence is a result of the high level of accuracy achieved after the survey,” Paulo concludes.

Propeller is a practical and reliable solution for those seeking speed and precision in project management.” —Paulo Eduardo Palma Baptista, Construction Coordinator, Nova Rota do Oeste