The construction industry is changing rapidly and also to feed to the booming market and increased expectations, the use of technology would increase at every level of construction. It’s anticipated that in the next 10 years, the use of drones in construction will record a diverse growth and for innovative buildings, drones will play an important role.
Drones would reduce the costs of projects to increase productivity and improve data sets through developments in photographic visualization. Progress in surveying accuracy would be an additional advantage of using drones in construction which would assist in saving both money and time. Increased use of drones in the construction sector adds value to the economy and will create new jobs.
Transforming Construction
According to a PwC report, approximately 600,000 people will be employed in the drone industry by 2030. The report says that besides providing efficient and inexpensive surveying production sites, investigating the deterioration of buildings, drones would help collate 3-D information and seamless integration with the BIM systems which would revolutionize the construction industry.
Another statement by Goldman Sachs says that the highest use of Drones is in the building industry in surveying and mapping websites. It calculates that entire global spending on drones in the industrial market will be $100 billion.
Including drone flight during all phases of the construction life cycle would offer a comprehensive record of all actions, enabling supervisors and the managers to keep track of everything before this project’s completion. And random obstructions in projects could be avoided as the specific duration by which the project would be developed would be recognized.
Benefits Over Other Methods
In the age of automation, construction sector cannot keep itself isolated from the developments, and this describes the increase in BIM adoption in recent years.
Rob Walker, PwC’s U.K. construction and technology pioneer, said: “Embedding drone flights in the construction lifecycle can provide a compelling ‘golden record’ of activity and we are already seeing tangible benefits from users”. Survey times could be 400 times faster than traditional techniques, costs reduced by up to 40 percent and information can be shared through the cloud with various stakeholders anywhere in the world, emphasized Walker.
This enables faster decision making, and individuals can be freed Up to concentrate on higher-value work — and this is only the beginning of our drone journey and stronger integration with other sources of handling information.”
The highly precise and reliable information gathered by drones would provide real-time monitoring and supervision would be easy as there would be no requirement to go to the website of the project physically. Collaboration between different parties and teams will be improved as everybody would be adequately informed and there will not be any miscommunication.
Interestingly, the use of drones will also support BIM selection. The drone would make it much simpler to build 3D models which then can be sent with BIM. It would not just increase efficiency and productivity but also provide a better understanding of the project.
Drones can catch dozens of high-resolution imagery of the project area. The pictures can then be combined. Another crucial advantage of drones is that the information could be inserted in various file formats into BIM package. This would make the workflow easier.
A key advantage of using the specialized photogrammetry software and drone technology is that the information could be imported in various formats into CAD or BIM packages. This creates incorporation of the digital 2D/3D information into workflow processes simple.
74% of Contractors Expect To Embrace Innovative Tech In 3 Years
While it’s more straightforward for big construction firms to be employing sophisticated technologies in their job websites that smaller businesses, a new study indicates that over half of builders (both trade and general contractors) are using an “innovative construction technology.” Included in this class are drones, gear tags, wearable, RFID tagging (utilized to track inventory, tools, and equipment), reality capture, virtual or augmented reality, 3D printing, and automated equipment/robotics.
Drones are the most popularly used among the 54% of builders who registered in USG Corporation and the fourth-quarter Commercial Construction Index survey of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that they’ve tinkered with at least one of those tools. 34% of respondents are running flights over their sites, while 39% expect to do so in three decades.
Each technology’s usage is expected to grow, as more contractors responded that they intend to implement them in 3 years than those that are currently using them. Additionally, builders will likely have more than one innovative tool in their arsenal by 2021 — nearly three-quarters stated they expect to adopt one or more before then. Drones, gear tagging, wearable devices, and RFID tagging are to be the most commonly utilized, the analysis found, with wearables use increasing by the best amount.
The Great Divide
There is a clear divide between contractor types: 73 percent of general contractors use at least one technology compared with 21 percent of trade contractors. This extends to expected technology adoption, too, with 85 percent of G.C.s anticipating a rise over three years compared with only 59 percent of trade contractors.
There is no solid ground for technology adoption than raised labor productivity, 66 percent of builders responded. The labor pain stage is felt by trade contractors. However, 77 percent of who preferred labor productivity as an important factor compared with 57 percent of G.C.s. Next on builders’ list of top reasons for technology investments are improvements to program management (52%), delivery on a budget (51%) and security (51 percent).
Contractors are most assured in the protection advantages of advanced technologies, the report found, with 78% believing technologies like automated equipment, robotics, RFID tagging and notably wearable, will help them on this front. Meanwhile, 77% considered budget management would improve, 75% that labor productivity will increase and 76 percent schedules could be better managed.
It really helped when you said that accurate data gathered by drones can provide real-time monitoring. As you said, miscommunication can also be avoided since all parties or teams will be informed appropriately. I guess the construction industry can really benefit from drone photography since it can also provide imagery that can assist in the evaluation and planning of the job site.
It’s interesting to know that there are inexpensive ways to survey properties now. As you said, drones can help collate 3-D information about the property easily. I can imagine how helpful these would be when companies have buildings constructed for their expansion. It would easily plan the land for them reducing their expenses and allowing them elsewhere important.
I had no idea that 73% of contractors use one technology, at least. My brother was telling me that he doesn’t think technology will be used that much by contractors. I’ll show him these statistics so he can be more informed.