Utilizing UAV Technology for Monitoring and Management of Road Construction Projects
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Abstract
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as an effective tool for spatial data acquisition in construction projects, offering high-resolution information suitable for monitoring earthwork operations and construction progress. The objectives of this study are to quantitatively assess the applicability and accuracy of UAV-based photogrammetry for monitoring the cut-and-fill activities in road construction projects in real-world conditions. A UAV survey was performed at an active urban road construction site with a multirotor platform featuring a high resolution RGB camera. The Structure from Motion (SfM) approach was used for photogrammetric processing to create dense point clouds, digital elevation models (DEMs) and Ortho mosaics. The geometric accuracy of geospatial products was ensured by collecting ground control points with Real-Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System (RTK-GNSS). The created surface models were subsequently used in a civil engineering design environment to calculate cut-and-fill volumes and measure the construction progress. The findings showed that the UAV generated photogrammetric products could provide geometric accuracy of up to centimeters, when compared with the RTK-GNSS control, and provide a reliable estimation of earthworks volumes. The methodology suggested can be applied to make an objective comparison between the as-built and design surfaces, identifying substantial fill needs in the road corridor analyzed. The study contribution lies in the corridor-specific, design-integrated validation of UAV-derived cut-and-fill volumes against RTK-GNSS measurements along a continuous road alignment under active construction conditions. The findings indicate that UAV-based photogrammetry can provide an efficient and cost-effective complement to conventional surveying methods for earthwork volume estimation and progress monitoring in road construction projects, with geometric accuracy validated against RTK-GNSS control at the studied site.
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