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PSA: I just read that a single drone survey can cut earthwork takeoff time by 80%
Found that stat in a case study from a highway project in Texas. My crew is still doing it manually with a total station. Has anyone actually made that switch and seen the time savings?
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ivanc452mo ago
Our firm switched to drone surveys for a subdivision site last year. The initial setup and learning curve took a week, but the actual data capture was under two hours for what used to take two days with GPS. The 80% time cut sounds about right for the field work, but the office processing for the 3D model adds some time back. It's a huge net gain, especially for tracking cut and fill volumes over time. The hard part was getting the older guys on board with the new workflow.
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margaretj401mo ago
@ivanc45 the volume tracking part is key, I started using drone surveys last spring and watching dirt move on a screen beats walking around with a rod.
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jennyh552mo ago
Yeah, the "older guys on board" part from ivanc45 hits home. I mean, I was totally that person who thought our old ways were fine. Seeing the volume tracking on a screen changed my mind, idk, it just makes the whole job clearer.
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