SSC Underground Deploys Drones on Trenchless Projects (VIDEO)
Specialized Services Company (SSC Underground), is an Arizona-based trenchless contracting company, that recently started utilizing a commercial grade, remote controlled, aerial drone on various aspects of its projects. The drone provides useful information at different phases throughout each project’s lifecycle.
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In the planning and design phases, the drone is used to capture overhead aerial views of the overall construction site and surrounding areas, which provide real time imaging of topographic and environmental features. This is important because those elements are not always accurately represented on maps or on as-built design blueprints. The high-resolution video and images captured by the drone, help pin-point constructability challenges in the pre-construction phase.
SSC also utilizes the drone to observe, measure, and capture photos and video of daily progress during construction. These progress fly-overs can be easily completed on a regular basis and used to provide more accurate and timely project updates to stakeholders without having to physically walk around the entire job site. This is how the drone has helped mitigate risk, as the information the drone provides helps identify potential problems early on – before they cause serious issues, missed deadlines, change orders, and legal disputes.
The photos and videos captured by the drone are also very useful as marketing assets.The high-quality cinematic aerial photos and videos that the drone captures, provide viewers with a broader and more comprehensive view of construction sites than normal ground-level perspectives. This allows various stakeholders to view the project in its entirety.
This media can also be used for educational purposes at conferences, tradeshows and in other learning environments. Most importantly, sales and marketing teams can utilize the drone video and images to showcase previous projects and educate prospective customers about various construction methods they may be uniformed about.
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SSC plans to utilize drones on more projects in the future and is excited about the future of drone technology in the construction industry.
Steven Kaufman is business process analyst for SSC Underground.
