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With three major construction projects taking shape on its Milwaukee campus, Marquette University not only wanted to raise public awareness but also financial support.
With that in mind, Marquette installed a Web camera at each site the School of Dentistry, Raynor Library and the Al McGuire Center to give people daily views of construction progress.
Nearly 6,000 users per month view Marquette's Web cams.
For Julie Ledger, project manager at the Raynor Library for Rosemont, Ill.-based Opus North Corp., the Web cam access is indispensable. With a simple click of her mouse, Ledger can chart the project's progress and solve a quick problem without having to travel from her office in Three Honey Creek Corporate Center, 135 S. 84th St., Milwaukee.
"It is definitely handy with problem solving and troubleshooting," Ledger said.
Although the construction industry can be slow to adapt to new technology, more contractors and their clients are realizing the benefits of Web cameras as a means of generating excitement, checking progress from remote locations or serving as a marketing tool.
"There are many more cameras than there were five years ago, " said Tom Sweeney, director of information services at J.H. Findorff & Son Inc. in Milwaukee. "General contractors are slowly coming on board, and clients rind the value of having it out there."
"It depends on the size and depth of the project," Ledger said. "It is something that is much more functional on bigger, more detailed and higher-profile projects."
Web cameras are hooked up to the Internet via...