AI-powered Volumetric Measurements for Earthwork Saves $30K

A construction company building a large office faced inflated bills due to unreliable estimates for soil removal. Precise soil volume measurements were achieved by implementing an AI solution that utilized drone and 360° camera data analysis. Consequently, the company achieved $30,000 in cost savings, 80% increased efficiency, and validation of the quantity of eradicated soil.

Client:

OAC Services (OAC) caters to all aspects of the built environment and offers a complete spectrum of engineering and consulting services. Backed by over 300 employees, the company offers a wide range of services: from architecture and engineering to planning and interior design. OAC is committed to providing innovative and sustainable solutions that cater to the needs of the clients and leverage BIM, GIS, and 3D printing technologies to deliver high-quality projects.

Problem Statement:

While building a large office campus in Silicon Valley, OAC faced an outdated and labor-intensive process for quantifying soil excavated and hauled away from the site. The traditional method of trusting vendor estimates created a recipe for discrepancies and potentially inflated costs in the final bill.

The high cost per cubic yard of soil removal ($90) made precise measurements crucial to avoid significant financial discrepancies in the final bill. OAC sought a remedy to streamline this process, minimize the reliance on estimations, and validate the precise quantification of soil removal.

Results:

• 11,000 hours saved in progress report preparation.
• $7 million saved through avoidance of rework.
• 80% increase in timely project completion.
• $11 million in construction savings on schedule overages.

AI Solution:

OAC, a construction company, used Reconstruct, an AI platform, to monitor and manage their project. Analyzing drone and 360-camera data, Reconstruct enabled proactive decision-making based on real-time project progress. Additionally, automated volumetric measurements for earthwork were conducted, effectively saving time and resources for the OAC.

Reconstruct generated point clouds from the drone and 360-camera imagery to measure soil removal precisely. This allowed OAC to track excavation progress with high accuracy over time. Reconstruct also provided them with both the exact amount of work completed and the excavation’s location coordinates.

When OAC received the bill for soil removal, they compared the vendor’s estimates with Reconstruct’s data, finding that the vendor’s estimates were inaccurate, and the bill had been overpriced by $30,000.

Reconstruct’s artificial intelligence features offered OAC important information on project advancement and automated duties, and pinpointed potential financial benefits.

References:

1. Reconstruct helped OAC Services save $30,000 on a single excavation project
2. Reconstruct Helped OAC Services Save $30,000 on a Single Excavation Project

Industry: Construction

Vendor: Reconstruct

Client: OAC Services