Construction World October 2018

EQUIPMENT

SA’S FIRST REGISTERED ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY DRONE OPERATOR

R started as a fun idea, arousing a great deal of enthusiasm, quickly turned into a very serious and sober undertaking by the company’s engineers. “To become a registered drone operator in South Africa, we are required to adhere to the same operational guidelines and legislation as manned aviation. The initiative requires a high level of responsi- bility from Aurecon. The business systems and governance systems that our Drone Operations Management Team is putting in place are very comprehensive,” he says. Louis de Klerk Jnr, Aurecon Flight Operations Manager comments that “Aurecon is taking the lead in the engineering industry by deploy- ing drones to its projects in accordance with the regulatory require- ments of the Civil Aviation Authority. Many members of the local construction industry, including our clients, are not fully aware of the strict requirements written into the South African Drone Regulations. While becoming a registered drone operator carries an onerous responsibility, we believe the benefits to Aurecon and our clients far outweigh any perceived drawbacks.” Taking clients on a journey to shape design solutions “Clients get a much richer view of a project very early on thanks to the 3D models that we create from drone imagery. Instead of having a team of engineers working on a design concept or solution in isolation, the visual and contextual information enables us to bring clients on board for the journey with our design team to shape a better solution for their project. Clients and their internal stakeholders are able to become involved in the project development on a much deeper level in its early stages,”says Matchett. Enhancing collaboration between the engineers and the client also enables the project team to reach consensus on design much earlier on in a project, which leads to fewer iterations of the design, and engineering consultancy company intends to use their squadron of drones as a value-adding tool on client projects, believing it will significantly enhance the company’s service offering. Aurecon is aiming to be the first consulting engineering company to become a registered drone operator in South Africa. The infrastructure advisory

less wasted time being spent on the development of dead-end design proposals, and more comprehensive feedback from the client. Without necessarily being designers, clients can immerse themselves into the design process with Aurecon. “The visual content that we are able to create helps clients, technical experts and designers unlock the creativity that is needed for innovation to flourish,” says Matchett. The benefit of having rich visuals in the concept phase of a project Having a high-resolution aerial view of a project site or construction activity provides engineers with such invaluable information. It enables them to make better decisions and take remedial actions be- fore small problems escalate, and it helps a design team understand true progress on a site. Having an independent birds-eye view of projects also means that information can be gathered without having to depend on third parties to physically go and measure specific elements on a project site. During the inception phase of a project, Aurecon’s design teams can get a comprehensive view of a site that they are going to be working on. The high quality aerial photography from the drones cap- tures more visual information than would have been possible during site visits in the past. This information can then be viewed at the office by an audience of designers, technical experts and engineers at Aurecon, who can interrogate the site at their convenience. “We are able to process the drone imagery and create a representa- tive 3D model of the site, the site, which is adequate as a reference to develop world-class engineering concept designs." says Matchett. The benefit of being able to create realistic 3D models for the initial concept design is that it reduces the time lag that exists be- tween the inception of a project and the receipt of traditional survey information. The initial design concept decisions can be taken early in the design development phase based on the early information. This maintains a constructive momentum of decision making, and improves the efficiency of the project by reducing hiccups due to the inevitable changes brought about when too much time passes between design reviews. While drones aren’t a survey equivalent data capturing method, the benefit that engineers derive from the process through getting information sooner is making the process worthwhile for design consultants. Improving record keeping through project site photos Record keeping is another significant benefit for clients of Aurecon’s drone services. Regular overhead project site photos will not only contribute to the development of time-lapse videos to show the prog- ress of a project, but it can also be used to review certain elements or project milestones at a later stage. “From a technical point of view, using the drone visuals, we will be able to trace back where certain parts of a structure or underground elements were installed in a project before they were covered up. Drone photography also captures ‘the big picture’ of a project site at a moment in time. By capturing a comprehensive view of project sites on a regular basis, we will have a powerful tool for Transforming aerial drone imagery into 3D models

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD OCTOBER 2018