Automated measurement of earthwork volume in construction projects

Purpose – This paper aims to present an automated system that measures the volume of excavated soil in earthmoving operations. It focuses primarily on presenting the use of the radio frequency identification – real time location technology and image analysis techniques in isolation of stockpiles from their noisy backgrounds, extraction of their geometrical attributes and determination of their location. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review of image analysis techniques is performed to identify the ones most applicable in developing the proposed automated system. A set of techniques are selected and experimented to evaluate their effectiveness in the proposed application. A review of the state-of-the-art distance measurement technologies is also conducted to identify the most suitable system to be used in the proposed system. Findings – A set of image analysis techniques that positively contribute to the accuracy of the proposed system is identified. Geometrical attributes of stockpiles are automatically extracted for volume measurement purposes. The use of an affordable and reliable automated distance measurement tool is also suggested. Research limitations/implications – Although the proposed methodology is believed to be applicable to most configurations of stockpiles, it was tested on conical ones only. Originality/value – The current practice of measuring the volume of excavated soil is time consuming and costly. Furthermore, it does not facilitate monitoring of excavation activities on close time intervals. The proposed system overcomes the problems associated with the current practice and provides an automated strategy that can be easily used by field personnel and/or home office management staff to closely monitor the progress of their earthmoving operations without physical human intervention.