Earthworks drone survey.
Cut-and-fill, terrain and movement, measured weekly.
Aerial survey and LiDAR for earthmoving, cut-and-fill, terrain modelling and large-scale civil engineering operations. Accurate volumetric data, progress records and as-built documentation at every stage — without the time and cost of conventional ground survey across large sites.
Survey data that drives the earthworks programme.
Earthworks operations live and die by accurate volume data. Our UAV photogrammetric and LiDAR survey service delivers terrain models, cut-and-fill calculations and stockpile volumes at the speed and frequency that modern earthworks programmes demand — typically within 24 hours of a site visit, to sub-5cm absolute accuracy across sites of any scale.
We work across major infrastructure schemes, roadworks, flood defence construction, mineral extraction and large-scale development — providing pre-commencement baseline surveys, regular progress captures and final as-built terrain models that feed directly into the commercial and programme reporting process. Repeat surveys are georeferenced to the same control, enabling direct comparison between any two points in the programme.
Where detailed terrain geometry is required for design or as-built verification, we deploy LiDAR alongside photogrammetric capture — producing dense point clouds that resolve embankment gradients, drainage channels and structural features that photogrammetry alone may not resolve at finer scales.
How often should earthworks be surveyed for cut-and-fill tracking, and how is volume change reported?
Weekly, on a fixed cycle, for a live earthworks programme: each epoch is flown against permanent ground control, with independent check points re-observed by GNSS before the flight and any epoch outside tolerance re-flown. Volume change is reported within 24 hours as cut, fill and net against the design surface, site-wide and by zone, with the volume moved in the preceding seven days and a cut/fill heat map.
Weekly epoch
Fixed-wing capture of 320 to 700+ ha sites in a 30 to 45 minute sortie at a consistent 3 cm ground sampling distance, inside a 60 to 90 minute window agreed with site management so plant is not held up.
Control that does not move
Permanent GCPs set as steel pins in concrete outside the earthworks footprint, tied to the OS National GNSS Network; check points re-observed every week and the residuals printed in every report.
What the report contains
Weekly and cumulative cut/fill by zone, incremental seven-day volumes, stockpile volumes, a cut/fill heat map on the orthomosaic, the 5 cm DTM and a running cumulative volume schedule that becomes the commercial record for the earthworks account.
This is the live programme described in our weekly UAV earthworks monitoring case study and in the cut-and-fill monitoring guide.
Bring engineering precision to your next project.
Most scoping responses sent within one business day.
RICS-regulated work, led by Philip M. Angell MRICS.