Aurecon is aiming to be the first consulting engineering company to become a registered drone operator in South Africa. The infrastructure advisory and engineering consultancy company intends to use their squadron of drones as a value-adding tool on client projects, believing it will significantly enhance the company’s service offering.

Richard Matchett, Aurecon Digital Lead RSA says that what initially started as a fun idea, arousing a great deal of enthusiasm, quickly turned into a very serious and sober undertaking by the company’s engineers.

“To become a registered drone operator in South Africa, we are required to adhere to the same operational guidelines and legislation as manned aviation. The initiative requires a high level of responsibility from Aurecon. The business systems and governance systems that our Drone Operations Management Team is putting in place are very comprehensive,” he says.

Shaping design solutions

During the inception phase of a project, Aurecon’s design teams can get a comprehensive view of a site that they are going to be working on. The high quality aerial photography from the drones captures more visual information than would have been possible during site visits in the past. This information can then be viewed at the office by an audience of designers, technical experts and engineers at their convenience.

Matchett explains that clients get a much richer view of a project very early on thanks to the 3D models that can be created from drone imagery. “Instead of having a team of engineers working on a design concept or solution in isolation, the visual and contextual information enables us to bring clients on board for the journey with our design team to shape a better solution for their project. Clients and their internal stakeholders are able to become involved in the project development on a much deeper level in its early stages,” he says.

Enhancing collaboration between the engineers and the client also enables the project team to reach consensus on design much earlier on in a project, which leads to fewer iterations of the design, less wasted time being spent on the development of dead-end design proposals, and more comprehensive feedback from the client.

Improving record keeping

Record keeping is another significant benefit for clients. Regular overhead project site photos will not only contribute to the development of time-lapse videos to show the progress of a project, but it can also be used to review certain elements or project milestones at a later stage.

“From a technical point of view, using the drone visuals, we will be able to trace back where certain parts of a structure or underground elements were installed in a project before they were covered up. Drone photography also captures ‘the big picture’ of a project site at a moment in time. By capturing a comprehensive view of project sites on a regular basis, we will have a powerful tool for settling any disputes and claims,” says Matchett.

Another important advantage of using drones is being able to conduct safer and more efficient inspections of high structures, unstable slopes, greenfield and wetland areas.

Drones to become ‘business as usual’

Aurecon’s vision is to make use of drones on its projects ‘business as usual’ in the near future. The company is only a few months away from obtaining its Remote Operators Certificate (ROC) from the South African Civil Aviation Authority, at which point it will start using its drones on selected projects.

“Over time, we believe that Aurecon’s drones and team of pilots will grow to a point where we are able to cover all our major projects and selected smaller projects. We believe that the use of drone technology is going to add significant value to our service offering, while also aligning with government’s goal of obtaining better visibility of infrastructure projects throughout South Africa,” concludes Matchett.