Drones Are Benefiting Earthmoving Operations

Conexpo covers more than drone basics

Published: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 - 11:02

Drones, the aerial eye of the job site, have become a versatile tool for earthmoving operations. Among their benefits are increased efficiency, productivity, and accuracy on job sites. In addition, drones help reduce unplanned costs and rework throughout a project by providing a steady stream of job site progress data. 

As drone technology evolves, the greater the ROI in employing them, points out Zach Pieper, director of operations and co-owner of Quantum Land Design, an industry leader in managing and preparing 3D data required for construction projects of any scale. “That’s why it’s important for those in the construction industry, especially in earthmoving, to learn about using drones.” 

​The versatility of drones is self-evident. “Drones are another tool contractors can put in their toolbox to make more-efficient and better decisions,” Pieper says. “There are many situations where a contractor might need to keep track of how much earth is being moved, compare the current site to the planned site, figure out how many yards of earth must still be moved, and where that dirt must go. Drones can be a cost-effective way to do that. They can also provide a rich layer of data that can be added to your knowledge of a project and your ability to manage it properly.” 

Pieper says contractors fall into two groups when it comes to drones. 

“One group I call drone curious,” he says. “They think drones are interesting, and they need to be learning about them. The second group is those who already have drones and feel they’re not using them as well as they could be. They may have bought one for a single purpose, which it is serving well, but... they want to get more use out of the information collected. Or they want to get ideas on how to better use their drones on job sites.” 

The  education session at CONEXPO-CON/AGG, “How to Utilize Drones in Your Earthmoving Business,” will cover the high-level basics of drones, including types of drones, applications, the kind of data you can get out of drones, and basic data collection procedures. 

“The session applies to nearly any size contractor,” points out Pieper. “It will be an information-dense way to learn how you can use drones to make better decisions with your contracting company and on each job site. It will be focused on applied technology. Everything in the education session will be information that any contractor can take back to their company or their job site and put it to work.” 

Get 40 percent off your CONEXPO-CON/AGG badge through Oct. 28, 2022, by registering here using the code MEDIA40. Registration includes all-access passes to all education sessions, including Pieper’s course on drones.

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