The Value of Drone Platforms on Civil Engineering Sites
In large-scale construction, civil engineering work accounts for the greatest share of costs.
On civil engineering sites in particular, it is important, first, to track the volume of cut-and-fill earthwork in order to manage the schedule, and second, to prevent additional costs from arising beyond the budget that has already been set. With recent advances in drone hardware, many construction sites are adopting drone as-built surveying solutions.
Through the interview below, you can get a quick sense of the value that drone surveying solutions like the Meissa platform deliver on actual sites.
The benefits of on-site drone construction (as-built) surveying that can be confirmed through the interview can be broadly grouped into four categories.
· Benefits of construction (as-built) surveying
Shorter working time through workflow innovation
For an as-built survey to check fill locations, a 20,000㎡ area takes about 3 hours and a 13,000㎡ area about 2 hours. Compared with the two days required by conventional surveying methods, working time can be reduced by roughly 90% or more | Source_Specialty construction firm S - Meissa performance report
Automated terrain surveying : Drones equipped with LiDAR or photogrammetry technology can rapidly capture terrain data for as-built surveys. Processing this data can generate a 3D point cloud with coordinate values and an accurate land elevation model. Conventional GPS surveying required transferring the data after the as-built survey and turning it into drawings. With the drone surveying method, you can shorten the working time from the as-built survey through processing compared with the conventional workflow.
Boundary surveying : Drones provide aerial imagery and data that help mark land boundaries. Overlaying drawings onto the orthophotos generated through drone surveying helps mark land boundaries accurately.
· Schedule management and cost savings
Schedule management : With Meissa, the cut-and-fill classification for each planned work zone is displayed in an easy-to-understand way. Because you can check the cut-and-fill status on a daily basis, it also becomes easier to calculate the zones that still need to be constructed. Clear planning becomes possible.
Volume calculation : You can calculate the volume of soil moved during excavation or grading work. By calculating the volume and comparing it with the planned elevation, you can reduce the need for manual measurement of cut and fill volumes and improve accuracy.
· Reducing construction errors through repeated surveying
Precise, in-house repeated surveying : Construction surveying that previously could only be carried out at set intervals by partnering with an external surveying firm or hiring specialists can now be performed in-house on site. You can track cut-and-fill volumes over time and obtain precise as-built survey values and as-built modeling. You can find detailed information about the accuracy of the Meissa drone solution in this article.
Real-time monitoring : By monitoring the site's construction progress in real time, you can detect and respond to construction errors early. It also speeds up pre-work checks of civil complaints (uncompensated areas, land boundaries) and of interference with other trades.
· Accurate mutual information sharing through improved collaboration
A meeting in progress using the Meissa platform
Accurate information sharing and more efficient meetings : With drone photos and 3D mapping results, you can hold meetings while visually sharing the latest on-site situation together. It also becomes easier to explain specific site locations and progress status to newly assigned staff or new employees.
Safety management : Hazardous sections, slopes, and hard-to-reach areas can be surveyed with drones instead. This helps ensure worker safety.
Drone data is a way to collect site information accurately and efficiently, and its use is expected to expand further across the construction industry. To keep pace with this trend, Meissa is advancing its features to provide more user-friendly technology—for example, detecting objects and leaving only the soil surface to provide accurate cut-and-fill volumes, and assigning color values to cut and fill volumes in the 3D viewer.
If you have any further questions, feel free to ask at any time using the Contact button. Meissa is always waiting to hear the voice of the field.
Smart Construction Made Easy! Request a Meissa Demo.
