CC Jul-Aug 2022

CASEstudy
Drones over HS2
Balfour Beatty VINCI digitises HS2 construction
workflows with new drone software
If the Victorians had totted up the
amount of time and money they had to
invest to build the UK National Rail
network, which is still in use today nearly
200 years later, they would have been
aghast at the outcry and expense of
modernising the system, starting with
HS2. An electrified rail network is
considerably greener than most other
forms of transport, but it is hamstrung by
having to run freight, local and express
services on the same track laid down
many years ago.
For a public transport network designed
to last for at least the next 100 years, it is
galling to listen to its detractors citing
'prohibitive costs' as their main objection.
It is encouraging, then, to be able to
present some small savings in its
construction workflows as an example of
the mindset of the companies engaged in
the project, demonstrated by Balfour
Beatty VINCI (BBV) on one of the
Midlands sections. These have been
achieved with the use of drones to
digitally survey workflows using Esri UK's
Site Scan software.
SITE SCAN
Site Scan for ArcGIS is Esri's cloud-based
drone flight management and image
processing software, offering flight
planning, hardware management, scalable
image processing and unlimited data
storage. It can also integrate seamlessly
with BBV's Esri enterprise GIS system.
Esri UK explained that BBV had adopted
Site Scan to digitise survey workflows,
reduce costs and enhance safety on its
90km stretch of HS2. The faster and more
efficient drone surveys are already saving
around £20,000 a year on monthly
construction progress surveys on a single
site, instead of using physical surveys
and the subsequent updating of CAD
models. BBV estimates this could save
around £1.6m if the same workflow was
applied across 80 sites in the first year.
Another benefit has been the removal of
800 'working at risk' days and a cost saving
of £30,000 per year from monitoring
aggregate stockpiles, using a single drone
operator to carry out 3D volumetric
measurements in 20 minutes. Previously,
contractors would take a full day to
physically measure stockpiles and
calculate transport requirements, often
working in steep and difficult environments.
Site Scan Drone surveys, used to
manage aggregate stockpiles and
monitor progress of construction, are then
shared using various 2D and 3D outputs
with multiple stakeholders, including highdefinition
imagery and 3D terrain models.
The new software was rolled out across
the BBV business to almost 400 users in
autumn 2021, including 13 drone pilots.
The major civil infrastructure project
spans from Long Itchington Wood tunnel
in the south to the West Coast Main Line
tie-in near Lichfield in the north, with a
major junction into Curzon Street Station in
central Birmingham. The main works civil
engineering contracts will deliver
earthworks, ground engineering and many
structures including bridges, viaducts and
tunnels along the 90km stretch of the UK's
new high speed rail line.
"We needed the right software to manage
an increasingly complex and varied use of
drones and meet the needs of multiple
teams, from logistics to site managers to
engineers," explained Dan Fawcett,
Innovation Director at Balfour Beatty
VINCI. "New digitised workflows are
rapidly replacing traditional, physical
working practices and introducing new
levels of efficiency, accuracy and safety.
On major projects such as HS2, the ROI
achieved is significant."
Other applications of the new software
include helping to show compliance with
design tolerances in built structures
against BIM and CAD models, speedingup
design cycles, particularly in
earthworks and excavations design, and
monitoring the installation of utilities. Site
Scan supports RTK drones to ensure
highly accurate data capture and point
cloud creation, and Super-user training for
Site Scan is being provided by Esri UK
partner Heliguy, the drone consultancy,
hardware and training specialists.
THE POTENTIAL OF DRONES
In addition to improving workflows and
reducing costs on the HS2 project, this
example proves that drones are fast
extending the reach of site surveyors and
project managers, enabling highly
accurate and more frequent surveys to be
run from any remote location - having
proved to be most effective elsewhere. The
ability to launch a drone, fly to any part of a
structure, take measurements and
produce a visual record of the problem -
whilst seated back in the site office or
elsewhere - supported by Esri's ArcGIS
application, is transforming the industry.
www.esriuk.com
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July/August 2022