Drone Surveying’s Role in Civil Engineering

Civil engineering is responsible for keeping our cities and communities alive. Civil engineers design and create the systems we need in place to remain functional as a society and as our demands and needs increase, it is an industry which also needs to innovate and develop. Drone topography and other drone applications can have a significant role to play in civil engineering, with drone surveys standing out as the most valuable way of incorporating this technology into the industry.

Streamlining Processes with Drone Technology

Drone surveying in civil engineering can help streamline processes and improve the speed and efficiency of activities like site survey, comparing as-planned vs as-built, creating BIM models, generating 3D reality captures and more. Drones can lend themselves to every phase of civil engineering projects from designing to construction and even inspections post.

Using drone inspections and surveys can help inform and enhance how civil engineers work and the organisation of their work too. The surveying stage of any development can be laborious and time-consuming, involving teams of specialists surveying the land on foot and collecting data manually. With drone surveying in civil engineering, this process is both faster and more accurate. Drones can quickly capture the imagery you need to create full site maps, including overhead views of topography and essential environmental data which may influence the next steps in the project’s development.

Data collected during drone surveys can also provide you with the baseline you need to work on the design and planning process required for the project. A single drone can capture all of the data you need rather than an extensive team.

Productive Operations with Drone Technology

Maintaining productivity throughout a project can be difficult, especially when there is a significant amount still to do. Drones integrated into your processes will help to keep the team on track and drone surveys ensure you have access to high-quality visual data which can help the team make better decisions, keeping productivity a priority.

People can focus on roles which require their knowledge and expertise, with no need to focus on more laborious manual tasks that can be handled by technology.

Monitoring Progress with Drone Technology

As a project develops it can be hard to see if you are going to keep to your deadlines. Surveying has always been a key part of the progression tracking process and with drones, you can collect more real-time data more regularly and see how the development is progressing more regularly than when using traditional monitoring methods.

A drone flyover can capture images of any changes and progressions on site as they occur, and you can compare images from previous surveys to get a full picture of how much progression has taken place and how close you will be to meeting the deadline. Drones also make it much simpler to compare as-planned and as-built developments, leading to significant reductions in rework costs if the final build is not inline with the plans. 

Embedding Drone Surveying in Civil Engineering

Drone technology is already playing an integral role in many civil engineering firms’ operations. By working alongside commercial drone companies and embedding drone surveys into your processes, your civil engineering organisation can reap the benefits of more accurate, more efficient and quicker planning and monitoring.