They are often used to carry out a project or inspection during construction in hard-to-reach areas. Structural engineers take advantage of the UAV to collect high-resolution photographs, allowing them to accurately assess the current state of the roof, skylights, sewers and bridges. Topography can be a hassle, as it requires team members to visit sites on foot and collect as much data as possible.
With drone topography
in civil engineering, this whole process is made easier and more efficient.Drones make it possible to create topographic maps of areas, with aerial views that show topography and other important environmental data. Between data collection and processing, traditional mapping methods (topography) take time and require human labor. Starting with capturing high-resolution photos and videos, a drone can do the job much faster and at a much lower cost than traditional methods. However, equipped with a LiDAR sensor, drones can do the same or better by inspecting a job in 60 to 70 percent less time.
In addition, if a construction site is dangerous or difficult to inspect, drones can do the job and eliminate any risk to people. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration began using drones to carry out periodic inspections during road construction. To dive even deeper into the application of drones at any stage of a construction project, from the pre-construction phase to the completion of the project, you can watch the on-demand webcast entitled “The use of drones throughout the construction life cycle”. In a single flight, WingtraOne can map almost 2 times more than a conventional fixed-wing drone and approximately 10 to 15 times more than multicopter drones.
As an example, let's look at the case of this energy company that used drone data to inspect a planned solar park in Illinois. Given the relatively low cost of using a drone to collect visual data on a construction site, it is possible to conduct surveys on a regular basis and create a record of progress. Therefore, if you want to save time and money during the mapping process, buy a drone or enlist the help of a drone service provider. In addition to their use as surveying tools, drones can also do wonders for construction marketing projects.
This e-book is a complete guide to the use of topography drones in the construction industry and for infrastructure, from the pre-design of projects to the maintenance of buildings and assets. Finding the right partner is important when implementing this technology, and at The Drone Life we have helped many civil engineers optimize their businesses through the use of drones. In its report on the impact of drones, PwC states that the use of drones in a construction project provides an unparalleled record of all activities; reduces planning and study costs; increases efficiency and accuracy; and eliminates disputes about the status of a project at any given time. Visual data from periodic drone surveys help plan operations on demand (it can be daily or weekly).
During an aerial survey with a drone with an RGB camera, the ground, its features and its buildings are photographed several times from different angles, and each image is labeled with coordinates. For example, Hades Geodeesia, a topography company in Estonia, uses drones to update the project.
