HOW TO USE DRONES TO IMPROVE CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

Five Ways DRONES Are Improving Jobsite Safety

Contractors are leveraging drone technologies to minimize risk and keep workers safe.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer contractors a view of the workzone and jobsite. With more complex drone solutions, you can control multiple jobsites on the same platform, capture digital twin models of the jobsite from different dates to track progress, and provide digital documentation.

Advanced contractors utilize drones and drone software as part of their broader effort to use new robotic technologies to proactively inspect and maintain roads, bridges and infrastructure. Drones collect data in real time by flying over the jobsite, allowing managers to see what is happening, track project progress and help discover early issues. Typically, contractors fly drones around multiple sites multiple times a week, processing thousands of images and finding new use cases and workflows.

Drones capture videos and images but it is imperative that you use a software solution that can understand the information captured and make it worthwhile for your organization. Surveyors and contractors can quickly collect survey data from drones to create high-quality 3D models. Contractors share the 3D model generated with drone data across multiple team members for enhanced project collaboration. These contractors collaborate with a technology partner to successfully develop and implement their drone programs.

Drone systems, which include the drone itself and software to process data, are becoming increasingly common at jobsites, helping contractors to capture surveying, planning and worksite data. This information can be used to increase safety, check work progress, monitor materials and equipment and gain insights through advanced analytics to make more informed decisions.

Following are five ways drones are being used to improve safety on construction sites.

1. REMOTE SITE SURVEYS & INSPECTIONS

To survey a site before or inspect it during construction, surveyors physically walk around a jobsite. For a large construction site or highway, this is a very time-consuming process. It can also be dangerous because of all the heavy equipment that is moving about, plus there is the risk of a surveyor getting struck by heavy objects and materials. In addition, some areas around the site may be unstable or challenging to access.

Drone systems enable surveyors to get accurate information on a worksite without having to walk the entire area. Surveyors can visualize and inspect a site using drones, which means they don’t have to be at the worksite physically.

In addition, overhead images from a drone will show cranes and other heavy equipment locations to pinpoint potential hazards and provide proactive directives to reduce danger for workers. Drone systems can also identify potential hazards such as a dangerous road grade and other site conditions.

Visual inspections and surveys with a drone take hours compared to days for a surveyor to walk the site. By shortening the survey time, work can progress sooner so that jobs stay on target.

2. MONITOR SITE PROGRESS

Drone systems come in handy when it comes to monitoring the progress of work on large construction sites. People no longer have to physically visit a site, which is useful when viewing hazardous areas. Drones send real-time video of site progress to managers. This information can generate a 3D model of the site, which can then be compared to the initial plan to make sure everything is progressing on schedule.

You can run side-by-side comparisons of the construction site across selected dates to view progress, and stay on schedule by monitoring execution progress and comparing work executed with design plans. You can also determine if the construction work is deviating from the original plan.

Drone systems can monitor the transport of materials, as well, ensuring materials arrive at the correct place at the right time, helping keep the project on schedule. Workers can be dispersed to a specific location to help unload materials to avoid trucks sitting idle waiting to empty. Traffic can be monitored so that workers are not at risk of being hit by vehicles.

3. CONCRETE INSPECTIONS & REPAIRS

Drone systems can be used to proactively inspect the materials in roads, bridges and other infrastructure. From digging foundations to pouring concrete to monitoring structures to look for cracks and deterioration, drones provide extra information that inspectors can’t see from the ground.

Using drone technology to inspect bridges and other infrastructure can significantly reduce the inspection process time and cost. It only takes a few hours to fly the drone around a structure and only a pilot and spotter to do the work vs. an entire crew and several days or weeks for a manual inspection.

4. DETERRING THEFT

Every year, up to $1 billion in materials and equipment is stolen from construction sites. Drones can fly over a jobsite at all hours of the day and night, monitoring the use of equipment and storage of materials to make sure nothing has gone missing. While many construction sites deploy cameras around the work area, certain areas of the site aren’t in the camera range. A drone can fly anywhere.

Surveillance drones equipped with motion sensors and infrared or night vision cameras are now being deployed at construction sites to deter theft. These drones fly in a pre-programmed flight pattern while an operator monitors the video feed remotely. Alerts are sent to project managers and owners or local authorities if an unauthorized person is detected after hours at the site. The video the drones capture can also be used to prosecute thieves.

5. MEASURING STOCKPILES

Drone systems can check locations for materials and calculate stockpile volumes and assets. You can draw borders around an area for automatic volume calculations and analyses. Drone software generates 3D images, which can track volumes and quantities to determine usage and when to reorder materials when combined with calculation functions and analytics.

Using drone systems to measure stockpiles instead of sending someone out to measure in person is a faster and safer method. Drones first take aerial photos of the site, combined with GPS or ground control data to create coordinates, which is then processed into a 3D model. By simply drawing a border around an area, you can automatically generate volume calculations and

Heavy Construction Systems Specialists, Inc.

The software behind unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are intelligent enough to detect image duplication, analyze the workzone and detect stockpiles of materials.

analysis. You can measure the amount of earth removed or the volume of sand and gravel needed as a foundation.

The data collected by the drones is highly accurate, so you will know if your stockpile of materials is dangerously high or at the right height. These measurements allow contractors to track their materials inventory and make sure they consume the materials at the right pace.

Drone technology use is growing in acceptance at construction sites, especially for doing some work that can put workers in danger. By having inspectors, surveyors and project managers conduct certain operations remotely using drone technology, the jobsite is much safer. ET

JP Giometti is the executive director for global strategy and corporate development at HCSS.

“Drones first take aerial photos of the site, combined with GPS or ground control data to create coordinates, which is then processed into a 3D model.”

— JP Giometti, executive director, global strategy and corporate development, HCSS

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