UAV-Based High-Rise Buildings Earthwork Monitoring—A Case Study

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is one of the most prominent technologies in the construction industry for data collection purposes. Compared with traditional methods, UAVs collect data faster and more efficiently at a lower cost. One of the construction works that can be monitored using UAV is earthwork. Earthwork monitoring is essential to complete the earthwork on time, according to plan, and within budget. This paper presents an application study on the UAV-based earthwork monitoring of a high-rise building project in the Republic of Korea. Earthwork of building projects have distinct characteristics. The area is excavated downwards to tens of meters deep, thus contractors deal with several types of soil. The building project is usually built in a densely built area. Therefore, contractors must monitor the slope as it poses landslide risk to surrounding areas. UAV can calculate the excavated volume, monitor the progress and the site, and document earthwork periodically and strategically. Based on case study, this study compared estimated volume based on GPS and actual excavated volume based on UAV survey and found 0.71% difference, indicating the reliability of surveying using UAV. However, the volume per soil type was quite different between both methods, resulting in 15.8% (USD 183,057) cost difference. This study shows that UAV technology is effective in monitoring the actual excavated volume, thus supporting fair business practices and transparency between stakeholders.