Civil engineering is an industry responsible for designing and creating many of the systems needed for our cities to function. It is an industry that requires a lot of planning, innovation, and creativity.
Civil engineers are consistently trying to find ways to optimize their processes to perform their job more effectively. One solution that many civil engineers are beginning to take note of is the addition of drone technology into their workflows.
Drone application in civil engineering is a great way to streamline processes, enhance best practices, cut costs, and increase efficiency. There are many benefits of drones in civil engineering, and for creative and innovative project managers, these pieces of technology can become an essential part of their everyday work.
Drones are valuable tools that can be used in a variety of ways, giving them a multi-dimensional utility in the civil engineering industry. Here is a breakdown of the major benefits of using drones in civil engineering.
Table of Contents
Planning & Design: Streamlining the Surveying Process
Planning and design is an essential part of civil engineering. Meticulous design processes are the key to a successful project. The planning and design phase provides the basis for how everything will go, and using a drone can positively re-shape how your team conducts this aspect of civil engineering.
Surveying can be a hassle, requiring team members to visit sites on foot and collect as much data as possible. With drone surveying in civil engineering, this entire process is made easier and more effective. Drones allow you to create site maps of areas, with overhead views displaying topography and other important environmental data.
What's included in YOUR GUIDE...
A Proven Roadmap of Success for Implementing Drones in Construction.
A List of Red Flags to Avoid When Hiring Drone Service Providers.
How to Persuade Your Leadership Team to Leverage Drones on Every Jobsite.
HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT droneS? START HERE.
The data from a drone survey will provide a baseline that allows you to improve upon your planning and design process. Drones will give you visual data that can be re-visited, and provide more in-depth details that will make planning much simpler. Some drones are capable of providing orthomosaic maps, which add a new layer of detail.
Rather than sending multiple team members to survey the potential site, you can get faster and more cost effective data from aerial photography. Drones will give you information like topography and environmental details.
All of this will make a big difference with your planning and design process, as it’ll allow you to operate with greater levels of information. It is also much easier and safer than sending team members out into unfamiliar sites.
Increasing Productivity
Consistent productivity is integral to the success of civil engineering projects, and drone technology in civil engineering is a great method of increasing productivity. Having high-quality, visual data will allow your team to make more informed decisions, which will in turn lead to an overall increase in productivity.
Another area where drones increase productivity is filling roles that workers might’ve had in the past. This will free up time for people to focus on different areas, saving time and money. Drones can investigate areas on sites and provide inspections more quickly and efficiently, leaving workers to focus on jobs that require a human touch.
Easily Shareable Data
Visual communication helps teams stay up to date with each other, and having open lines of communication is integral to a successful project.
With civil engineering, there are often a lot of different shareholders involved in the project, so keeping everyone in the loop is extremely important. Whether it’s a private contract or a government contract, you’re going to want to stay connected with both off-site team members and other relevant shareholders. One of the uses for drones in civil engineering is creating easily shareable data.
Sending written updates is one thing, but drone imaging provides comprehensive, visual details to relevant parties. Many people involved with the project are either too busy or too distant to consistently make the trip, so having a civil engineering drone to provide aerial photographs, videos, and maps, will make communication much easier.
It is also a great way for decision-makers to provide information to team members. Rather than having to verbally direct them to parts of the sites to address issues, they can just provide some visual data from drones to communicate where and what needs to be done.
Keeping Track of Current Progress
Staying under budget and on time is vital to the success of a civil engineering job. Everything should operate on a timeline, and making sure that that timeline is being kept will ensure a smooth process.
This is an important application of drones in civil engineering. As aerial data will allow teams to keep track of the current progress effectively and accurately.
A drone flyover helps show changes and progressions of the project site. Comparing the initial map of the site during the surveying process with a current flyover of the site side by side will give you intricate insight into what has been done, and what still needs to be done.
These images will help decision-makers monitor their project, and ensure that everything is on schedule. It will also reduce the amount of time decision-makers need to spend on-site.
Shooting Island Case Study
There are many success stories of drones helping civil engineers effectively do their jobs. One example of this is the Shooting Island restoration. This is a 150-acre island that needed to be surveyed, but the size and conditions of this island made that extremely difficult with traditional methods.
With wetlands on the island, and shallow water nearby making an approach by boat difficult, civil engineering drone videography made for the most practical solution.
Aerial photography helped provide important details in this project, where the goal was to restore the badly eroding shores of this wetland. With high-quality, visual data in place, the restoration process could begin, restoring this important habitat to full strength.
Find Out How Drones Can Improve Your Workflow
If you are a decision-maker in the civil engineering industry, being aware of the opportunities drone use in civil engineering can provide is a great way to get ahead of the curve. Finding the right partner is important when implementing this technology, and at The Drone Life, we’ve helped many civil engineers optimize their business through drone use.
We’re an experienced team of licensed drone professionals that have helped professionals cut costs, increase efficiency, and streamline communication. We believe that drone technology can improve practices in a wide variety of ways and that the innovative civil engineer would greatly benefit from the application of this important new tool.
If you’re about to start on a new project and want to learn more about how we can help your business, visit us at our website, or schedule a consultation with one of our industry experts.
HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT droneS? START HERE.
What's included in YOUR GUIDE...
A Proven Roadmap of Success for Implementing Drones in Construction.
A List of Red Flags to Avoid When Hiring Drone Service Providers.
How to Persuade Your Leadership Team to Leverage Drones on Every Jobsite.
