Construction and Public Works
Technology
Industry
26 Nov 2024
The construction sector is undergoing a radical transformation. In the face of increasing demands regarding safety, productivity, environmental sustainability, and quality of execution, companies must adapt. Among the most notable innovations in recent years: the drone. Initially reserved for surveillance or aerial imaging, the drone has now established itself as a concrete, operational, and multifunctional work tool in the building sector. But it is not alone. Other technologies such as terrestrial rovers, IoT sensors, or digital twins are also contributing to this transformation of the construction industry.
The drone, a multifunctional ally on construction sites
Inspection, diagnosis, and modelling
Drones equipped with high-definition, thermal, or multispectral cameras allow for:
Rapid and secure inspection of roofs, facades, or frameworks
Detection of defects invisible to the naked eye (thermal bridges, infiltrations, cracks)
Creation of 3D models (photogrammetry) useful to architects and engineering offices
This significantly reduces the time required for technical audits and improves the accuracy of diagnoses.
Cleaning, treatment, and maintenance
Thanks to the evolution of spraying drones, specialised companies can now:
Clean roofs or cladding without scaffolding
Apply antifungal or water-repellent treatments with unmatched precision
Operate in dangerous or hard-to-reach areas
Surfaces of several thousand square metres can be treated in a few days with reduced water consumption and near-zero carbon emissions.
A tool for productivity and safety
Reducing human risk
The drone eliminates the need to send operators to heights. It thus helps to:
Limit falls, the main cause of fatalities in the construction sector
Reduce the strain of tasks
Operate in post-disaster zones (collapses, asbestos, unstable roofs)
Time and efficiency gains
A facade diagnosis performed by drone takes a few hours instead of several days using traditional methods. This allows for:
Making decisions more quickly
Reducing the number of participants
Improving the profitability of construction sites
A response to environmental challenges
Less equipment, less fuel, less waste
By replacing scaffolding, lifts, and heavy vehicles, the drone reduces the ecological footprint of interventions. Its low energy requirement, combined with biosourced products (in the case of treatments), meets the demands of HQE, BREEAM, and RE2020 labels.
Softer interventions for residents
In the case of social housing or inhabited condominiums, the drone allows for:
Drastically reducing noise disturbances
Not blocking access to housing
Avoiding the risk of vandalism on scaffolding
It is a discreet, clean, and socially responsible solution.
The drone is not enough: towards a global technological ecosystem in construction
Rovers, exoskeletons, connected sensors
Innovation does not stop at the sky. On the ground, other tools are emerging:
Autonomous rovers for the inspection of technical galleries or underground construction sites
Exoskeletons to ease the effort of workers during repetitive tasks
IoT sensors to monitor temperature, humidity, pollution, or vibrations on a construction site in real time
These technologies do not replace human workers but assist, secure, and improve their comfort at work.
The digital twin and AI as catalysts
When combined with these tools, digital models of buildings (or "digital twins") enable:
Simulating work before it starts
Optimising logistical planning
Anticipating friction points or anomalies
Artificial intelligence (AI) will handle these data flows to aid real-time decision-making.
Tomorrow's construction will be safer, faster, and more humane
Less hardship, more control
Automating certain critical tasks (diagnosis, spraying, logistics) allows workers to refocus on high-value tasks. This transforms the relationship to the profession and enhances human skills.
A better quality of life for all
By enabling cleaner, shorter, and more respectful construction processes for residents, these technologies also contribute to improving the living conditions of occupants of renovated buildings: less disturbance, greater sustainability, better energy performance.
Conclusion
The drone is not a gadget. It is a central building block of a technological future applied to construction. Versatile, fast, secure, and ecological, it transforms the ways of designing, diagnosing, and maintaining structures. Combined with other innovations such as rovers, sensors, or AI, it prepares for a more intelligent, sustainable, and human-respecting building environment.
Investing in these technologies is building the future.
Construction and Public Works
Technology
Construction and Public Works
Technology
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