How Drone Technology is Advancing Civil Construction
By now we've all heard about drones. We've seen them everywhere.
Whether flying around your backyard or capturing unique aerial footage, drones offer vast possibilities and applications.
Especially when they're utilized as construction equipment.
Drone usage has become one of the most compelling construction business trends over the past few years.
Their aerial vantage point and data collecting abilities make them an invaluable tool.
The benefits of drones range from on-site safety, to topographical surveys, to aerial images, to remote monitoring.
High-resolution images and videos from drones are used to scope out projects, track building progress, and provide real-time updates.
As the drone industry grows and construction projects become more complex, drones in construction will continue to increase.
With their real-time data recording and unique aerial advantage, real-time monitoring can improve efficiency, cut costs, and streamline workflow.
Read on to learn more about how these futuristic devices are transforming the way construction firms carry out entire projects.
Table of Contents
- Building Surveys
- Surveying Land
- Equipment Tracking and Automating
- Construction Site Inspections
- Improvements to Infrastructure
- Remote Monitoring and Progress Reports
- Promotional Photography
- Drones Will Be A Staple of the Construction Industry
Building Surveys
Traditional surveying methods usually require visibility of the roof to identify its condition and assess defects.
In most instances, getting access to a roof can be tricky and often involves the erection of a scaffold, the use of a cherry picker, or ladders.
All of those methods are time-consuming and costly.
Using a small drone to perform the survey saves time, money, and it's also safer.
With a drone, you can reduce health and safety risks involved with surveying a roof and accessing tricky or hard to reach areas.
Surveying Land
Drones are also rapidly replacing traditional land-surveillance methods.
Drones can significantly reduce the labor and time involved in producing accurate land surveys.
With a drone, you can eliminate much of the human error involved in the construction progress.
You can also capture necessary data in much less time than traditional methods would take.
Equipment Tracking and Automating
With a drone, a construction manager can do a flyover and quickly assess if their equipment is where it needs to be.
They can also make sure there isn't equipment still on-site that should be terminated.
That can save a lot of money in expensive accidental extension charges.
And unfortunately, sometimes, equipment malfunctions.
Drones can be used to remotely access the issues that are taking place and provide visual representations to aid in communicating those issues, especially in tight spaces.
The data recorded by the drone can easily be sent to repair technicians for quick and accurate diagnostics even before they make it to the worksite.
Construction Site Inspections
Carrying out building site inspections on a busy construction site can dangerous and complicated at times.
With a drone, you can carry out visual inspection of high-risk areas that can save time and reduce safety hazards.
Drone footage can be recorded from the safety of the site cabin and then sent off to be reviewed quickly and effectively.
Site inspections can also be conducted on a more regular basis and cover larger areas more efficiently.
Improvements to Infrastructure
Drones are advanced technology that provide superior endurance and intelligence to job sites.
Their ability to collect and report real-time information through their thermal sensors allows them to complete work faster.
The need for manual labor to complete these tasks is all but removed from the equation.
As drone technology progresses, drones will take on even more essential tasks involved in large projects and have even more of a transformative impact in construction phases.
Drones are set to cut the time it takes to build a skyscraper by a broad margin and cutting costs by just as much.
Contractors with drone technology will be able to make much more ambitious bids and complete work on time.
Remote Monitoring and Progress Reports
Drones can produce impressive aerial views and give clients a grasp of the project's progression, especially if the clients can't make it to the job site.
In addition to client communications, drones can improve collaboration in your construction crew.
During a flyover, a drone can send precise mapping and other important information directly to your software and your project manager.
This data can be accessed by your design teams, engineers, construction managers, workers, and owners, allowing them to see the progress of the project.
Drones can also create a valuable trail of documents in case of situations that require them.
Promotional Photography
Another benefit of drone technology is their ability to capture impressive photography - which is becoming more of a need and less of a want in the way construction organizations promote their business.
Having raw images is especially useful in social media, another thing that is becoming an important work tool.
Drones are an excellent tool for marketing because of the impressive 4K HD video and photos from unique angles they can capture. They can offer potential clients a virtual walkthrough of projects your firm is already working on.
Drones offer the opportunity to capture the real scale and size of a project in minutes.
Drones Will Be A Staple of the Construction Industry
Construction companies are adopting drones at a faster rate than ever before.
No matter what their use, drones have proved invaluable to the field.
Drones can cut costs, time, risk, and labor, all while improving workflow, accuracy, communication, and efficiency.
This leads to more confidence and certainty when working on a construction project.
Drones are already revolutionizing the construction industry and changing the way construction projects are handled.
It's safe to say that the commercial drone is here to stay.
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