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Warning: A drone survey in Austin showed me how wrong my old methods were
I was on a site in Austin last month, still doing my old walk-around with a tape and notebook. The surveyor showed up with a drone and mapped the whole 2-acre lot in about 20 minutes. He handed me a 3D model on his tablet that showed grade issues I had completely missed. I felt like I was still using a horse and buggy. How many of you have made the jump to drones for site work?
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joel_chen3125d ago
Our last topo on a sloped lot took two guys a full day. The drone survey we did the next month found a critical drainage swale we had all walked right past. I won't go back to the old way for anything bigger than a backyard.
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grant34725d ago
Hold on, you said the drone found a swale you all walked past. That just tells me your guys missed it on the ground check, which is a training problem, not a tool problem. I've seen drone surveys mess up under thick tree cover or on really steep ground, giving a false clean picture. @joel_chen31, you're trusting a flyover more than boots on the dirt. For drainage, you need to feel the slope under your feet and see where the water actually goes, not just where a computer model says it should. A good surveyor with a rod would have found that swale and felt the low spot.
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