Archive for year: 2017

In the construction industry, getting the best results depends heavily on using the best techniques and technology available to you. One example of a new technology that many construction projects managers are beginning to take full advantage of is building information modeling (BIM). BIM in construction uses advanced surveying technologies such as 3D laser scanning and unmanned aerial vehicles to gather data about buildings and the terrain around them and then turns that data into detailed virtual 3D models that can be used throughout the planning and design process.

Read on to learn more details about BIM in construction and how it can support better results for your project.

More Informed Decision Making

In the construction industry, the best decisions are based more on evidence and less on guesswork. When a project manager is able to look at a detailed 3D representation of the building in question before making a decision, it’s possible to take guesswork all the way down to zero.

Using the BIM 3D models, project managers can conduct simulations of different situations, allowing them to fully understand the potential consequences of a particular action before they take it. This provides a level of insight that simply would not have been possible in the days before BIM existed, and this new insight will no doubt lead to better project results.

Ensure a More Streamlined Project

One of the key sources of delays in construction projects is the need to make unexpected changes after the project is already underway. The only way to prevent these kinds of delays from occurring is to have a complete and accurate project plan in place before you begin working on a project. In order to create such a plan, you need data that can help you see all angles and account for all possible outcomes. This is where BIM comes into play.

With BIM, project managers are empowered to make sure they get things right the first time around. As a result, they can feel more confident that their project will proceed according to plan, and that there will be no unforeseen interruptions.

A Centralized Source of Up-To-Date Information

When paired with a cloud-based distribution platform like TrueAtlas, building information modeling becomes especially powerful. Pairing these two technologies together helps ensure that everyone can access the complete, accurate information they need, from wherever they happen to be, on whatever device they happen to be using.

As a result, a project team is empowered to collaborate on their decision making, while knowing that everyone involved with the decision is on the same page. This also helps to avoid the difficult situations that can arise when team members aren’t communicating with each other clearly enough. It’s no wonder that 43 percent of organizations that participated in a recent survey from Dodge Data & Analytics said they experienced more efficient project-wide communications after implementing BIM.

Lower Costs

Finally, BIM data can now be gathered using unmanned aerial vehicles. Unlike BIM data created by traditional surveying teams, UAV surveys are mostly automated and can be performed in a fraction of the time. This leads to a reduction in man hours needed to get started on a project, which in turn translates to lower costs.

Also, the increased accuracy that BIM in construction enables also keeps costs down. In addition to being time consuming, unforeseen issues that create the need for rework later on in the project are also very costly. Once again, BIM provides the level of accuracy that’s needed to make sure these issues don’t occur.

To learn more about BIM in construction or to get started with your BIM project, contact the experts at Landpoint today.

As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) start to become more affordable, they are popping up in a number of industry settings where they might not have been practical before. One instance of this phenomenon can be found in land surveying. Aerial data collection has the potential to revolutionize land surveying for the better, but only if you’re careful to go about doing it the right way.

Before you take the plunge on aerial data collection for your land surveying needs, read this blog post for a closer look at several of the things you should keep in mind in order to help you get the best results. These points will help guide you as you look to hire a provider of aerial data collection for land surveying services.

1. Does the Data Provide Survey-Grade Accuracy?

First and foremost, accuracy is the name of the game when it comes to aerial data collection. There may be some areas of your project where “close enough” is good enough, but the accuracy of your survey data should not be one of them. At the end of the day, if your survey doesn’t provide accuracy that you can use to support informed decision making, then all it really is just a pretty picture.

Make sure you work with a land surveying partner that can demonstrate knowledge and experience with the latest drone mapping techniques. In addition, look for a company that has invested in the most advanced data collection technology available.

2. Is the Person Flying the UAV A Certified Pilot?

As mentioned earlier in the post, drones are now more affordable than they have ever been. One of the drawbacks of this fact is that it creates a situation where just about everyone feels that they are qualified to operate a drone. However, just because someone has experience using drones as a hobbyist does not mean that you should trust them to conduct your aerial data collection.

For one thing, working with a sUAS certified pilot is the only way to make sure your organization gets complete and accurate data to support its land surveying efforts. In addition, drones in industry are still highly regulated, which means that you may open yourself up to legal trouble if you choose to work with someone who isn’t a sUAS certified pilot.

3. How Is the Data Going To Be Processed And Stored?

What happens to your survey data after it’s first collected is perhaps just as much of a concern as the actual data collection itself. Accurate data is important, but it can’t do you any good unless it’s processed quickly and correctly, provided to you in a useable format, and stored in a way that makes it easy for you to access in the future.

When you meet with potential providers of aerial data collection services, make sure to spend some time discussing their data processing methods. Ideally, they should be able to provide you with processed and useable data within a time window of 24 to 48 hours. Ensuring prompt turnaround for your land surveying data is an important part of ensuring your project proceeds according to schedule.

4. How Advanced Is The Drone Being Used?

Like everything else in life, the equipment you use for your aerial data collection process matters. Working with a team that has access to the latest in UAV technology is a great way to make sure the data you end up with is accurate, but also gathered quickly and cost effectively.

An example of this can be found in the issue of ground control points. Less advanced UAVs must always set these points in order to ensure accuracy, which can be very time consuming. Newer drones are able to ensure accuracy without them, which leads to a quicker collection process.

To learn more about aerial data collection services, contact the experts at Landpoint today.

The enthusiasm surrounding unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is high for both hobbyists and industry professionals, so it’s no surprise to see that this enthusiasm is now moving into the world of land surveying. UAV surveys have many benefits for large construction projects: everything from increased speed to greater cost efficiency. Not to mention how UAVs can survey hard to reach areas. However, it’s important to keep in mind that UAVs need cannot completely replace land-based surveying.

Even the most ardent fan of UAV surveys is sure to find certain circumstances where land-based surveying is the preferable option. The key is knowing how to properly balance these two options, in a way that helps you fully take advantage of both, while also avoiding the drawbacks of each. In this post, we’ll explore a few of the reasons why UAV surveys are not right for all situations, and how land-based surveying can fill in those gaps.

Dealing With Weather And Environmental Conditions

First, weather and environmental conditions can make UAV surveys difficult or impossible to perform on some projects. For example, flying UAVs in very high winds can be very difficult. Of course, you can always wait for conditions to improve before trying again, but avoiding delays is one of the key reasons most surveyors use UAVs in the first place. Using land-based surveying can help you stay on schedule and ensure you get the data you need during certain non-flyable weather conditions such as high winds.

In addition, UAVs are currently incapable of carrying any devices that can see through water, vegetation, and other obstacles. If an area you’re surveying has limited visibility that will prevent UAVs from working to their full capacity, you will, of course, need land-based surveyors to take up the slack in those areas.

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance

In the early days of drones, strict federal regulations made large-scale commercial use of drones impractical. Things have certainly loosened up some since then, but there are still certain situations where even using UAV surveys may be against the law. For instance, if your work site is near an airport, a highway, or some other similar piece of infrastructure, you may be limited in where you can legally fly your drone since it could be viewed as a potentially dangerous distraction.

It’s important that you learn the regulations that cover UAV surveys, or that you work with an experienced surveying professional who does. Then, you can make sure to plan your surveying work so that you’re using terrestrial surveys in areas where you would not be allowed to use UAVs.

Areas Requiring Special Levels of Detail

While UAVs have certainly come a long way in terms of their ability to capture data in their surveying work, there still may be situations where UAVs simply aren’t enough on their own. In cases like these, using both land-based surveys and UAV surveys together helps ensure that you get both a very high level of detail, as well as a fast and efficient survey that can be turned around quickly. For instance, UAV-based photogrammetry could be paired with land-based laser scanning, with scanners set up from a wide variety of angles to return more complete results.

In the end, UAVs should be just one of several different tools in your surveying toolbox. While it’s a tool that’s certainly easy to get excited about, that doesn’t mean you should count on it replacing all of the other tools. There will always be circumstances that require a human touch, so you should be ready to address those circumstances when they arise.

Working with a surveying professional can help you get the right mix of UAV and land-based surveys for your project. Contact Landpoint to learn more.

For pipeline survey companies, the rules of the game have changed. As pipeline right of ways have grown increasingly crowded, and land use and regulatory issues have become more of a concern, pipeline survey companies have had to start taking a new, smarter approach to their work. One way in which they can accomplish this is by adopting the latest innovative technologies. One land surveying technique that can be especially helpful to pipeline survey companies in the new environment they find themselves operating in is unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, commonly known as drones.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at why UAVs are such a good fit for pipeline surveying and why so many companies have already begun to adopt them.

1. Cover Long Distances

The first reason that UAVs are such a good fit for pipeline surveying is the fact that pipelines tend to cover very long distances. While the speed at which UAVs complete their surveying work is an asset for any project, the benefits are multiplied for larger projects such as pipelines.

For pipelines that often cover hundreds of miles, traditional surveying methods during initial phases simply aren’t economical. The time required to complete the preliminary surveying process for speculative routes will become a bottleneck, making it take longer to finish the pipeline. UAVs move much faster than these land-based surveys and are capable of removing the bottleneck by surveying even very long pipelines in a reasonable amount of time.

2. Get Into Difficult-To-Reach Areas

Another reason that pipeline surveying is so difficult to complete using traditional surveying methods is the terrain involved. Since pipelines cover such long distances, surveyors may find themselves having to deal with mountains, deserts, swamps, and more. In addition to slowing down the progress of the surveying itself, having to cross this difficult terrain can put surveyors at risk of accident, which presents its own series of complications.

With UAVs, all of the surveying happens above the ground, which means that the surveying work can essentially proceed at the same speed no matter how hard reaching a particular area might be. In addition, surveyors are able to complete their work from a safe location, without putting themselves at risk.

3. An Efficient Way to Capture GIS Data

UAVs can be paired with a variety of different information capturing technologies, but perhaps the most beneficial one as far as pipeline surveying companies are concerned is geographic information systems (GIS).

With GIS, pipeline surveyors can gather the data they need to build detailed computer models of all the possible pipeline routes that are available to the company. After looking at their options and performing simulations, the company can make an informed decision about the ideal routing to act on. If utilized through all development stages, GIS helps ensure a profitable pipeline project with minimal interruptions or complications, and UAVs represent one of the quickest and most cost-efficient methods of gathering the GIS data.

4. Create Detailed and Accurate Surveys

When securing your pipeline right of ways, you may find yourself having to deal with many different private landowners and different political jurisdictions that each have their own unique set of regulations and requirements. In order to get the right of way you need, you need to make sure your company keeps all these different people and agencies happy. An accurate survey can get you off to a great start in this regard by helping you illustrate exactly where your pipeline lays.

By utilizing UAVs, pipeline surveying companies can gather the highly accurate data they need to create preliminary and as-built surveys using high-definition cameras and other advanced data imaging technologies.

To learn more about how UAVs can assist you in your pipeline projects, contact us at Landpoint today.