How to Use Drones in Construction

Caitlin Maddock-Bahr | Social Media & Content Manager

How can drones be used on a construction site?

Using drones for site design and pre-construction activities can reduce labor times, increase accuracy of your work, and decrease the amount of rework needed on site. “It takes minutes to fly the drone, and accessing the data is quick. You would eliminate the need of having one person dedicated to checking grades all day long, which frees up another operator to move more dirt,” says Matthew.

“An engineer’s goal on the job site is to balance cuts and fills,” explains Jared. “Importing and exporting material is expensive. Using a drone to fly the site before a job starts allows you to see where cuts and fills are needed. You can build your initial design off that first cut sheet and use that to check your progress throughout the job.”

What exactly does this look like? You’ll set up ground control points, or targets, about every 300 yards to establish known elevations with GPS. After you fly your drone, the data gets imported to produce detailed maps of your job site.  

Here are some specific examples of how you may benefit from adding a drone to your fleet:

• Import data and designs to your equipment
  With Cat® Grade equipped machines, you can use mapping technology to map out cuts and fills. Your screen will highlight red areas for cuts, blue areas for fills, and will show green when you’re on grade.
• Productivity tracking
  All that grade data from the machines can be reviewed back in the office to monitor progress of the job, and the accuracy of each operator.
• Progress reporting
  Drone data can be used to create 3D models of your job site, which you can then use to compare your current progress against the design on a regular basis. Using this method to continually review map overlays allows you to identify discrepancies in things like building pads, ditch lines, slopes, etc. – before large amounts of rework are necessary.
• Client updates
  Drone images and videos are great ways to update your clients on the job’s progress. It’s also much safer and more cost effective than using a crane or hiring a helicopter.

Remember to check the airspace surrounding your job site for any restrictions. You may need to out a call in to the FAA so that they’re aware you’ll be flying in the area. You are allowed to fly 400 ft. above ground level of your launching point, and most drones will have a limiter on them that won’t allow you to go above that point.  

What to look for when purchasing a drone for construction

Matthew says that camera quality is key. “You want to make sure you can capture images without dealing with pixilation. Also check for the height range of the drones you’re looking at.” At the Tinaja Demonstration and Learning Center, our teams run DJI Inspire 2 drones.