ABA was formed in 1990 when the civil engineering work on the Channel Tunnel was nearing completion and the fitting out with track and overhead lines was about to start. ABA’s reputation was founded during this period when the OLE installation was being done in the Channel Tunnel in advance of the track being laid. ABA surveyed the tunnel segments and wrote the software to combine their as-built survey data with the OLE design data that had to be converted to coordinates. Remember, the OLE design data had been provided relative to a track that was yet to be installed. The ABA software then produced all setting out schedules for the Halfen OLE brackets, the distance to be set for the sliding bracket from the fixed bracket end and even for the location of the OLE fixing on the registration arm itself. To have provided such an innovative and successful solution at a time when the ABA State of the Art†surveyor had only a basic total station (an electronic theodolite with distance measuring EDM built in) and an IBM computer for the processing (the 1mb hard drive alone was a £1000 extra), established our reputation and set the philosophy for the future of ABA.
