Construction Progression
Construction progress monitoring is the recurrent collection of information throughout a project’s lifecycle to ensure construction is progressing as planned. Progress monitoring not only helps detect when a project has fallen behind but also prevents delays before they happen. Project managers who collect progress reports consistently are alerted to issues as they arise and can implement solutions early before the issue slows down construction.
Construction progress monitoring may include:
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Observation of the construction work and its level of completion
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Observation of any potential work hindrances or stoppage
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Assessment of conformance to the construction schedule
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Assessment of the quality of workmanship
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Assessment of supply of stored materials for adequate quantities
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Identification of construction changes and potential or pending changes
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Benefits of Drone Progression Monitoring
Rather than a limited “boots-on-the-ground” perspective or trying to piece together bits of information relayed from multiple departments/teams, our team offers a singular, trustworthy, and consistent perspective. Flying a drone over a construction site provides a fully inclusive aerial view of the site and the progress being made. The result is an obvious improvement over traditional methods of progress monitoring.
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Drone flights for progress monitoring are:
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Time-saving – Using a drone speeds up the process of surveying a construction site, and also cuts down on labor costs. Additionally, drone saves time afterward when compiling the progress report. This eliminates the hours it would normally take to consolidate and organize all the information gathered manually. Clients can get updates in real-time, reducing the lag time between when a change happens on site and when they actually find out about it.
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Thorough – Areas that are dangerous to difficult to traverse on foot pose little problem to a drone. Eliminate safety risks to workers by sending a drone to inspect those important assets and construction zones instead.
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Reliable –New drone images can be taken monthly, weekly, or daily depending on the speed of the project. Drones can provide uniformity of perspective, location, and altitude with each inspection, making it easier to compare progress over time. Providing consistent viewpoints in each progress report improves productivity and cuts down on costs.
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Yield detailed, accurate, and easy-to-read reports – We keep members of various teams informed. Our drone imagery can be shared with project managers, stakeholders, and investors who’re interested in keeping tabs on the project. ​
Traditional Methods of Construction Progress Monitoring
Traditional construction progress monitoring is an effort to get boots on the ground to see first-hand how the progress of a project stacks up against the schedule. An assessment typically involves sending an inspector to physically walk the site on foot and record their observations. These on-foot inspections present some challenges.
Traditional on-foot assessments for progress monitoring are:
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Time-consuming – Large sites can take hours or multiple workdays to assess thoroughly.
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Incomplete – Some construction site areas may not be accessible from the ground and end up getting left out of the assessment. This could be because they are physically out of reach or because they are too dangerous to access. The remaining visuals that are captured only communicate a piece of the full picture. Viewing a site in its entirety would require aerial footage and access to those hard-to-reach places.
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Unreliable – Even if an inspector takes their time to thoroughly assess the site, important updates can still be overlooked by the human eye. A log of low-quality photos, usually taken with a phone or tablet, are limited in scope and detail. In these cases, it can be difficult to refer back to if questions arise about what was seen on site that particular day.
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Yield Unclear Results – Inspectors can also find it difficult to clearly convey what they saw with their own eyes to the managers and stakeholders located off-site. Written notes don’t provide the visual detail you get when physically present on site. Even when paired with photographs, it can be hard to communicate the full picture.
Communication from all the teams involved in the project, from contractors to subcontractors, to general teams, gets siphoned into these platforms. While digitization facilitates easier sharing of information, it may still lack context. And, the admin responsibility of keeping multiple formats and sources of information organized can become overwhelming.
Thankfully, there is an even better solution for construction companies who want to collect accurate, reliable, and clear information about how their project is progressing一drones! We at UAVisualsMT will be able to keep you updated as frequent as you need with our construction progression package. As many team members, stakeholders, or investors as needed to keep you and your team up to date on the progression of your project.
