Roadway Inspection: Old Mill Road, Cheshire for Eurovia Infrastructure
YellowScan’s partner FlyThru, one of the UK’s leading providers of unmanned LiDAR surveys, was mandated by their client, the digital construction team at Eurovia Infrastructure to survey an area for a project. As one of the global leaders in transport infrastructure and urban development, Eurovia builds and maintains roads, motorways, railways, airports and tramways, and develops industrial, commercial and urban facilities.
What is the Challenge?
A busy and quite complex section of road in an urban environment situated at Old Mill Road Cheshire was due for some repairs and redesign to allow traffic to flow at busier times. The road is a key access point for the town and traffic management for this survey would have been extremely disruptive and a safety hazard to use conventional on-foot survey techniques.
Therefore, Eurovia was looking for solutions to allow a full topographical style survey to be undertaken, with minimal disruption and creating new and exciting 3D models for the design team and the eventual client. Some of the survey area was heavily vegetated, so traditional road scanning or photogrammetry was not suitable.
Colorized point cloud from Mapper plus camera module
The use of new technology is at the forefront of the Eurovia business who have been using UAVs and the data they have collated for over 5 years. The massive advantages of using the LiDAR system are the penetration of vegetated areas and the ability to combine the datasets into a seamless package for all those involved on schemes from design through to completion.
Philip Reid
Digital Construction Manager, Eurovia Infrastructure
Solution
Survey had to be undertaken outside of peak times to minimize risk and disturbance to members of the public. FlyThru decided to use the YellowScan Mapper plus Camera module mounted on a DJI m300 for the survey. The YellowScan Mapper UAV LiDAR system is equipped with a high-performance Livox Horizon laser scanner from Livox. With a great point density, this LiDAR sensor allows our LiDAR system to fly easily at 70m AGL with a 120m swath.
Using the YellowScan Camera module is as easy as pushing the little yellow button, just like our LiDAR solutions. The camera is powered through the Mapper and its data is stored on a dedicated SD card.
YellowScan Mapper with camera module on a DJI M300
Point cloud from the mission
Results
The collected data was processed to create:
- Full calibrated point cloud (LiDAR and Photogrammetry)
- DTM for ground levels
- Orthomosaic for visual reference
Benefits of YellowScan Mapper
- Best cost-performance ratio
- High point density and advanced accuracy and precision
- Low-weight
- Turn-key and simple to operate
- Self-powered
- Can be mounted quickly on any professional UAV
2022 © Photos: FlyThru Limited / YellowScan
