Drone Application in Construction Industry

Henry Chan, Deputy Construction Manager, Dragages Hong Kong Limited

Introduction

In recent years, the digital transformation of the construction industry has led to the adoption of new innovative technologies for collaboration, including the utilization of drones, which has become an essential technique for project teams. The article explores the application of drone technology in the Hong Kong construction industry with real-life cases involved in construction projects. 

Inspection Drone in the Tunnel

A customized software solution with drone development can be used for inspection purposes. For a typical tunnel construction project, the space of the working area and logistic traffic window is shared depending on the width of the tunnel to be constructed. One of our mega projects in Hong Kong - Trunk Road T2 and Cha Kwo Ling Tunnel have invented an award-winning tunnel inspection drone, “3S Tunnel Defect Inspector,” which has streamlined and digitalized the process of tunnel lining defect inspection with benefits in terms of flexibility, safety and efficiency compared to traditional inspection method by setting up an MWEP (Mobile Elevated Work Platform) in the middle of a crowded tunnel. The inspection can be carried out at any time in favor of the engineer and inspector with AI-powered processors to generate digital inspection reports. 

Collect BIM data for Digital Twins.

Drones can provide the essential data for creating digital twins, which is viral for recent infrastructure assets during the construction and maintenance stages. Enterprise drones have high-resolution cameras, Real Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS positioning, and revolutionary sensors like LiDAR/ultras, providing accurate video data. They are forms of time and cost for maintaining the digital twins. We have adopted the drone survey surveys of our recent complex projects in Hong Kong – MTR 1201 – Tung Chung Line Extension (TUE) – Tung Chung West Station and Tunnels and update the data set in digital twins monthly

A Construction Method Demonstration

The flexibility and stability of the drone are used to record construction site activities to illustrate the innovative method adopted for the client. We transferred a 50m long TBM (Tunnel boring machine) using SPMT (Self-Propelled Modular Transporter) between 2 constructing tunnels and a building with a 1km traveling path in 6 hours. Compared to a conventional method of taking video by a production house with the requirements on the venue and resources, the task can be simply tackled by a drone and operator accompanied by the site operation team. The captured view can be live broadcasted to stakeholders to reduce the number of representatives on site, which benefits safety concerns.  

"With the rapid development of technology, the construction industry is expected to embrace and implement take-over tasks in data collection, inspection, photogrammetry, and surveying."

Project Promotional Content

Drones become a common tool for shooting commercial videos incorporated into construction project promotional content. A rotary wing drone with a stable gimble shows the infrastructure's functioning from an aerial view. There is a trend of using fixed-wing FPV drones to shoot an immersive first-person walkthrough presentation video, which has been adopted in the advertising video of the Tseung-Lam Link project in Hong Kong. The eye-catching multimedia content promotes the image of the corporate to the public.

Aerial Photo for Collaboration

Aerial photos are often taken to report progress to the client and for stakeholder collaboration. With the advanced development of drone technology, aerial images can be taken with one click in computer / mobile apps with assigned flight paths. The photo is automatically synchronized in a shared location for the project team to use. The updated information provided by drones enables efficient decision-making by the team. 

Considering the scale of an infrastructure construction project, an orthophoto can be created by combining numerous aerial photos taken through drone image processing software like WebODM or Pix4D. The orthophoto can be overlayed with the construction site layout to probe the issue before the construction stage. Plenty of infrastructure projects in Hong Kong are working in urban areas with a limited site boundary and traffic access, which require precise planning on storage areas and machinery to be used.

Future Directions

With the rapid development of technology, the construction industry is expected to embrace and implement take-over tasks in data collection, inspection, photogrammetry, and surveying. Drones have become more affordable and applicable with advanced technology like IoT sensors, 5G network connectivity, AI-powered processors, and weather-proof and durable batteries, which will benefit the industry's productivity.