How drones help the construction industry… 

While this trend might seem unusual, the use of drones has been extremely beneficial to construction firms over the last few years. According to TrueLook, drone usage in the construction industry increased 239% from 2018 to 2019.  

Frankly, technology has advanced substantially in recent years in the construction industry, with drones being a part of this advancement. During COVID-19, technology was instrumental in helping the construction industry stay on track of project schedules and perform daily tasks. Specifically, drones were helpful during the pandemic for a multitude of reasons, such as: 

  • Taking pictures of project sites 
  • Completing safety inspections 
  • Managing job sites 
  • Tracking and surveying jobsites 

ConstructionDive explains that drones are a great way to take pictures and document the progress of a job site. Whether that is the initial, progress, or final pictures of a job site, drones document and show the progress of a jobsite and the work that it took to finish it. In addition, safety inspections can be performed with drones. With the visuals that the drones provide, it can show project teams of potential hazards that could occur on the worksite as well as the drones help increase worker safety to eliminate those hazards.  

In terms of the pandemic, with the construction labor shortage and the social distancing practices that were in place, construction projects were taking longer than expected. The use of drones allowed firms to visualize how to maximize the productivity of construction workers while still adhering to the COVID-19 protocols. Furthermore, the drones could provide data to ensure the project’s progress was on schedule.  

TrueLook states that around 63% of contractors use drones on their projects. This percentage has increased over the past few years, and it ultimately shows that construction firms understand how drones can be helpful for more than just taking pictures of their job sites.