Industry / Civil engineering

Reality capture for civil engineering

Design does not start until somebody knows what the ground does. We collect existing conditions dense enough to design on and deliver a surface that drops into Civil 3D without your team rebuilding it first.

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01/The problem

A surface is only as honest as its breaklines.

A point cloud thinned to a surface without breaklines rounds off every curb, ditch bottom and slope change on the site. It looks fine on a plot and it lies about drainage. On flat coastal ground that difference is the whole design.

We classify before surfacing, run breaklines along the features that matter, and check the vertical against observed control. What you get is a surface you can grade against, not a smoothed interpolation you have to correct by hand.

What lands in your project folder

Civil 3D surface or LandXML, ready to import
Contours at your interval with breaklines
Classified point cloud for reference and re extraction
Feature linework to DWG or DGN
Drainage and flow direction exhibits
Cut and fill against your proposed grade
As built comparison surfaces
Orthomosaic tied to the same control

02/Fit

Where it saves the most time

Due diligence and feasibility

A parcel under contract gets flown in one mobilization, so the topo is on your desk while the inspection period is still open.

Drainage and stormwater

Vertical accuracy checked against control, breaklines along ditches and swales, and a surface where flow direction reads off the model instead of being interpolated between shots.

Corridor and roadway

Long linear collections with cross sections, edge of pavement, ditch lines and utility clearances resolved from a single pass.

As built verification

Send us the design surface and the as built comparison comes back with the collection rather than as a second engagement.

03/Proof

Data from delivered work.

Colorized LiDAR point cloud of a roadway corridor and adjacent parcels — Colorized LiDAR corridor collection. Pavement edges, ditches and vegetation in one dataset.

Coastal parcel colorized by elevation showing drainage relationships — Elevation shading on flat coastal ground. Flow direction reads off the surface.

Point cloud of stockpiles for volume computation — Earthwork quantities computed from the surface, with the arithmetic shown.

04/Services

What we typically fly for this work.

05/Questions

Common questions.

Can you deliver directly into Civil 3D?

Yes. A surface with breaklines, contours at your interval and feature linework, ready to import. LandXML if you would rather bring it in that way.

Is this survey grade?

The capture is planned and controlled to the tolerance we agree during scoping, and we report the checks. What we do not do is certify it. Where a signed and sealed survey is required, the licensed surveyor on your team holds that, and we support them with the data.

How does this compare on cost to a conventional crew?

On sites of any size it is usually less, and the density is far higher. On very small or very obstructed sites a conventional crew can still be the right call, and we will tell you when that is the case.

Can you fly an active construction site?

Yes, and repeat flights on the same plan give you an honest month over month record for progress and quantities.

05/Next step

Start with one site.

Send the boundary and the deliverable you need. We scope it, fly it, and return the data in your format, typically in under seven days.

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(727) 421-5779 [email protected]