Industrial

What is Industrial Aerial Photography?

Let us at first understand what aerial photography is. Aerial photography, or also known as airborne imagery, is when photographs are taken from an aircraft or any other flying object. Aerial photographs can be taken through fixed-wing aircrafts, helicopters, balloons, blimps, pigeons, kites or parachutes. Although in the modern day, the most used platform for taking aerial photographs are unmanned aerial vehicles. They are also commonly known as “drones” or “UAV’s”. Aerial photography was first ever practiced by the Frenchman Gaspard-Félix Tournachon over Paris, France.

Industrial Aerial Photography is when aerial photographs are taken of construction sites, factories and any other place of manufacture. As can be seen on the photograph, industrial aerial photographs provide all necessary information about the land acquired by the site, its whereabouts and the locations of the different buildings in the site. Construction site aerial photography is very efficient and affordable. It helps contractors stay on top of the requirements of the project. It helps the project managers to stay within the timelines, stay within the budget and please the investors with every detail from the very start to the end of the project.

The Importance of Industrial Aerial Photography

As mentioned above, with industrial aerial photography, contractors and project managers can better manage their commercial, residential and industrial projects. Specifically: 

• Survey of the site prior to ground-breaking: The benefit of having a bird’s eye view of the project site will provide the investors with exact information about sightlines once the building is completed. Aerial photographs also help the contractors with displacement of material and equipment near hazardous locations such as busy roads or powerlines. 

• Accurate project management and monitoring: The usage of drones and aerial photographs provide an accurate visual depiction of real-time progression of the project site, helping managers spot problems early and allowing them to fix the problems in due time. 

• Multispectral and Thermal imaging: The advances in technology having integrated with drone imaging are able to provide valuable information about soil and ground quality prior to ground breaking. They can also detect heat loss and water leaks in the building envelope with utmost precision.

• Inspection of Project site without Safety risk: There are numerous areas on a construction site that are dangerous and difficult to access. Drones help in the inspection of these hazardous areas without putting in risk the lives of construction workers and liability of the company. 

• Precise construction bids: Images and data captured by drones are very accurate and hence they can increase the precision of construction bids. Most of the construction bid packages only contain preliminary drawings of the construction site or FEED sketches. That leads to the need for bid clarifications and exclusions due to unknown variables. With the help of drone photography, more accurate information can be provided.

• Marketing and Promotion: Videos and photographs captured through drones can be used to market the building or residence. 

Significance of Industrial Aerial Photography

Aerial Photography is speedily and economically taking the place of other methods while adding countless advantages to the construction trade. From the very start to the conclusion, the ability to visually document and monitor the activities on the project site can speed up the building process to a great extent and ensure safety at the same time. Whether it be a small building or a big residential block, aerial photographs provide the construction team with the overview they require to maintain control. Aerial photographs taken of industrial buildings can also be used as evidence in case of any lawsuits against the construction of any factory, residential building, etc. They show an overview of the land and property which is not available at ground level. If the photographs are stamped with their time and date, they become a valuable reference of ground conditions at the time. 

Industrial aerial photographs can be used for surveillance of residential areas whenever there is a crime of any sort. They can be of great use for building and facilities maintenance. Industrial aerial photographs are also a great way of advertising and marketing residential blocks for real estate companies. They provide the details regarding the size of the area, size of buildings and other facilities.

Being affordable and effective, aerial photographs provide accurate and detailed information for the construction of industrial buildings and their maintenance. In today’s world, aerial photographs carry a lot of significance as they provide useful information for today’s businesses like never before. 

Advantages of Industrial Aerial Photography

• Factory: When it comes to factories, industrial aerial photography can be very useful and important as there is a lot of hazardous equipment and machinery everywhere. In case anything goes wrong and there is a danger of any sort, aerial photographs of the factory provide an accurate layout and locations of every room or place. Any kind of danger or hazard can be prevented with the help of aerial photographs. Not only that, whenever it is time to change or repair machinery, aerial photographs show an accurate representation of its whereabouts. They also depict the area acquired by the factory, its entry and exit gates, and its location on the map.

• Warehouses: Taking aerial photographs of warehouses are an ideal way of showing commercial premises and its efficiency. The service yard or loading area is a very important part of the premises for access, parking, storage and other logistical reasons. Aerial photographs show any service roads that are in close proximity. These are very important considerations when marketing commercial property. These aerial photographs can be put in marketing brochures and sales particulars. The size of the storage units, warehouse and service yard are depicted with precision.

• Heavy Machinery: Bulldozers and excavators are heavy equipment machineries that are used in construction or conversion work. Once we have an aerial view of that through photographs, the impact of those and their efficiency can be seen. If there is any problem with the performance of the heavy machinery and more or less land is dug or pushed, it can be noticed through aerial photographs which can be resolved instantly. 

• Aerial Inspection: Aerial Inspections are done by drones to collect visual data on the condition of an asset or machinery. They replace human visual inspectors, so they don’t have to put themselves in dangerous situations. Instead of climbing several stories on a tower to take a close look at some wires, a drone can be used instead. According to FlyAbility, This maintenance process is also much more affordable than hiring manual inspection due to the fact that 80-90% of the time, there is no problem with the asset. As a result, companies will be able to reduce their corresponding maintenance expenses by up to 80-90%. Therefore, saving tens of thousands of rupees. 

In conclusion, industrial aerial photography provides many advantages to real estate companies and their business relations. They are also much a much safer option when it comes to inspection of an asset high up in the air like cell towers. Industrial photography is the next step forward to a more sound future in industrial buildings.