Innovation — drones

Drones to propel new innovations in the construction industry The construction industry is changing rapidly and to cater to the booming demand and increased expectations, the role of technology would increase at every level of construction. It is expected that in the next 10 years, the use of drones in construction will register a manifold growth and for futuristic buildings, drones will play a leading role. Drones would lower the costs of projects, increase productivity and enhance data sets through improvements in photographic visualization. Improvement in surveying accuracy would be another benefit of using drones in construction which would help...

Construction 2025: 3D Printed walls, drones & recycled plastic roofs Renowned futurologist Dr Ian Pearson has given an insight into how the future of the UK construction industry could look. Commissioned by Colmore Tang Construction, Dr Pearson has presented some interesting findings on where technology is taking the construction industry. He suggests that drones carrying building materials to 3D printed walls, and roofs made from recycled plastic bottles from ocean waste will all be mainstream by 2025, while floating buildings or apartments will be possible by 2050 thanks to carbon foam, which is lighter than air. Dr Pearson says that...

Drones trialled for the inspection of large railway structures The LNE&EM route Structures asset management team is trialling the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to inspect large structures in a safer and more cost efficient way. The vehicles, commonly known as drones, are being used to get a closer look at five arch viaducts on the route, including the Grade 1 listed, 28-span Royal Border Bridge in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. Since 2017 the Structures team has been working alongside AECOM consulting engineers, Network Rail’s Air Operations team and Cyberhawk – a company that operates UAVs – to carry out the...