I f you’ve been building long enough, you’ve heard the pitch before: “Drones are faster. Drones are safer. Drones are cheaper.” And if you’re being honest, you’ve probably thought: “Sure. But nothing replaces walking the site.” You’re right. Boots on the ground are how you’ve always understood a jobsite. Your crews don’t just measure—they feel the grade under their feet. They see where the dirt’s loose, where the trench is unstable, where the story poles line up with reality.

M ost folks in construction still think of surveying as something that happens once — early on, before the concrete trucks show up and...

I n the world of drones, we’ve grown accustomed to thinking in three dimensions — length, width, and height. And for good reason. Modern...