Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty uses drones to monitor the progress of development work at M6 smart motorway. Credit: Heliguy.

Construction firm Balfour Beatty has teamed up with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) specialist Heliguy to deploy drones, including the DJI Phantom 4 RTK, to oversee the development of M6 smart motorway in the Midlands, UK.

The construction firm is using drones for quick stockpile measurements, informative aerial progress reports along with accessing hard-to-reach areas.

In addition to Phantom 4 RTK, Balfour Beatty is using Mavic Pro and the Inspire 1 with X5 camera to boost efficiency, collect data, improve asset productivity and get accurate results.

The drones have helped the construction firm carry out mapping and capturing aerial shots with less time spent on-site.

“The contractor said that the drones are proving to be a real time saver, particularly helping to measure stockpiles and earthworks at the scheme’s recycling depot at Junction 2.”

Balfour Beatty principal UAS manager Craig Matthews said: “Drones are a great tool to deliver the results safely, quickly and accurately.

“They remove people from harm’s way, which is a big plus for us, and they give the project team and clients a unique view on the progress of a project that you couldn’t get from the ground.”

The contractor said that the drones are proving to be a real time saver, particularly helping to measure stockpiles and earthworks at the scheme’s recycling depot at Junction 2.

The company’s team can reach the site quickly and digitise the area in a fraction of the time that it would take to use traditional, on-site methods.

Matthews further added: “The drones are a great time saver. It would take a surveyor using traditional handheld equipment about a day to measure the stockpiles and process the data. But using the drone, we can fly over the compound in 15 minutes and process the model in about two hours.”