Exploring Drones in Civil Engineering

Enhanced Progress Reports available on Enterprise.

Improving Infrastructure

Managing physical assets is a key benefit to using drone technology. By piloting a drone, users can conduct site surveys and perform manual inspections without actually being on-site. Plus, with features like Live Stream and Enhanced Progress Reports, stakeholders in multiple locations can stay fully informed. The Inspection Workflow is especially helpful in this. After flying over your given area or asset, users can tag issues and @mention co-workers or contractors to assign them tasks. In turn, these individuals can comment back on the stream in-app in real-time.

Thoroughly inspecting your sites with a drone ensures that workers can be proactive in improving or building infrastructure and preventing deterioration. A drone equipped with a thermal camera can further assist this effort by identifying areas strained by weather damage or leaks. DroneDeploy’s Thermal Live Map visualizes temperature-range variability immediately and allows users to “see the unseeable” - damage undetected by the naked eye. Also, check out how 3D models and point clouds can aid in this.

A Side-By-Side Comparison.

Increasing Productivity

Insights gleaned from drone data allow engineers to make the most informed decisions and prioritize approaches to their problems. With high-resolution images and a complete, precise map of their site, engineers can evaluate terrain conditions, best access points, potential hazards, and more, just from one drone flight. Because the app records this information, teams can frequently revisit flight plans or maps, and create side-by-side comparisons to track progress, significantly reducing the time spent on projects, saving money, and enabling more efficient uses of labor.

DroneDeploy has specialized tools to make this process even more accessible. With Earthworks capabilities, users can monitor grade over time using cut/fill tools that measure elevation. Volume Measurement provides an accurate method of analyzing volumes on your map. Finally, Stockpile Reports detail the total amount of different materials in your stockpiles, presented in a shareable PDF.

Using a drone keeps workers out of dangerous situations.

Maintaining Site Safety

Piloting a drone removes the need for labor or aircraft in hazardous situations. What could take a full team a week to do can be accomplished in just one day with a drone, with the added benefits of an optimal vantage point, a detailed record of inspection, and a safer environment for workers. Additionally, projects can be monitored and surveyed without disrupting work or shutting the site down.