Towards an automated photogrammetry-based approach for monitoring and controlling construction site activities

The construction industry has a poor productivity record, which was predominantly ascribed to inadequate monitoring of how a project is progressing at any given time. Most available approaches do not offer key stakeholders a shared understanding of project performance in real-time, which as a result fail to identify any project slippage on the original schedule. This paper reports on the development of a novel automatic system for monitoring, updating and controlling construction site activities in real-time. The proposed system seeks to harness advances in close-range photogrammetry to deliver an original approach that is capable of continuous monitoring of construction activities, with progress status determined, at any given time, throughout the construction lifecycle. The proposed approach has the potential to identify any deviation of as planned construction schedules, so prompt action can be taken because of an automatic notification system, which informs decision-makers via emails and SMS. This system was rigorously tested in a real-life case study of an in-progress construction site. The findings revealed that the proposed system achieved a significant high level of accuracy and automation, and was relatively cheap and easier to operate.