FAA Grants Permission to Drone Company to Fly Construction Sites

Seattle,WA, October 7, 2015 (Newswire.com) - The FAA has granted UAV (aka drone) services company Aerial Scouts Inc. a 333 Exemption to fly over local area commercial construction sites and provide such services as low altitude HD aerial imagery, 3D mapping, building inspection, surveying, and live video feed.   Aerial Scouts is the first company of its kind in Washington State who exclusively works for the Construction and Building Science Industries to be granted permission by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones on project sites.

Aerial Scouts focuses on flight missions for midsized and large construction companies who build projects in the $20-$150 million range.  Prior to receiving permission from the FAA it had already flown site missions for such leading Pacific Northwest construction companies as SRM Development, Exxel Pacific, Walsh, Deacon, and Compass Construction.   One project they worked on this summer was Phase 2 of the new Google Campus in Kirkland for SRM Development.   Jackson Buck, the Project Superintendent responsible for building both phases of the Google Campus in Kirkland,WA believes “The use of drones onsite has been very beneficial to us and has the potential to change the way the construction industry constructs and inspects buildings in the future”.  

"The potential is immense, I think before long this is going to be commonplace."

Jackson Buck, Project Super, SRM Development

The company offers a diverse suite of high tech imagery services that are brand new to the construction industry and go beyond traditional static aerial photo work done at higher altitudes from an airplane.  One example of such a service is their ability to “stitch together” and design detailed GPS accurate 3D maps for key zones of a project site.   These maps are made by having the drone fly at low altitudes from 30-50 feet while taking photos every few seconds as it flies at a slow speed.   An example of such a map can be found on our website.  Thanks to this new technology a site Project Manager could quickly and accurately inspect a large section of their site, normally almost impossible and very time consuming to walk through, using their desktop computer. From the comfort of their warm and dry trailer they can perform accurate measurements between sections of this post tension deck to confirm the rebar and cables are adequately spaced away from electrical and plumbing lines before concrete is poured.   These maps are geotagged and can also be accurately laid over CAD plans for future uses if there is the need to drill holes in concrete and locate plumbing/electric lines or repair sections at a later date.

Aerial Scouts Inc. is a Seattle based drone services company who first “took flight” in 2015.  Our mission is to be innovators and provide advanced aerial imagery and consulting services by integrating high definition low altitude aerial photos and video with software solutions to assist commercial construction companies build projects cheaper, safer, and more efficiently.  Please visit the “Consulting Services” section of our website for additional information and samples of our project work.