200+ Acre Utility Infrastructure Program

Comprehensive UAV photogrammetry and LiDAR mapping across more than 200 acres to support municipal utility renewal, asset inventory, and Civil 3D engineering deliverables in just over one week.

Project Area
            200+
            Acres
        
Delivery Time
            7
            Days
        
Utility Assets
            100s
            Mapped
        
Civil 3D Ready
            100%
            Ready
        

Sky Shot — Aerial LiDAR & UAV Case Studies

CASE STUDY // 02

200+ acre utility infrastructure program

Timeline delivered 1 week

Area covered 200+ acres

Deliverables Civil 3D & Asset DB

Terrain Steep, rolling

Municipal Utility Renewal Network

SCOPE: 200+ ACRES MUNICIPAL DISTRICT ASSET EXTRACTION COMPLETE

INFRASTRUCTURE ORTHOPHOTO Complete topographic mapping across steep slopes and residential easements.

01. Challenge

An extensive water and wastewater utility renewal program spanning over 200 acres required existing condition mapping across steep terrain and long corridors.

Decades-old legacy infrastructure had surface appurtenances—valves, meters, manholes, and sample stations—scattered across residential easements and hard-to-access properties, requiring rapid asset inventorying without schedule delays.

02. Method

Sky Shot executed systematic UAV aerial mapping to capture ultra-high-resolution orthophotography and surface elevation data. Photogrammetric point clouds were processed to identify and extract visible surface utility assets.

Feature Extraction: Surface Photo vs. Vectorized Utility CAD

AERIAL ORTHO SURFACE

Sub-inch imagery capturing manholes, valves, and edge-of-pavement features.

CIVIL 3D VECTORIZED BLOCKS

Planimetric CAD linework with georeferenced municipal utility block symbols.

QA/QC & Accuracy Methodology

Extracted asset locations were cross-referenced against utility field observations and legacy system maps. Positional accuracy was verified using RTK-surveyed ground control points, ensuring asset coordinates aligned with project CAD standards.

03. Deliverables

The design team received a comprehensive suite of digital utility assets:

.DWG

Civil 3D Utility Drawings Formatted blocks for valves, meters, & manholes

.CSV

Asset Geodatabase Structured spreadsheet with State Plane coordinates

.ECW

200-Acre Orthomosaic Seamless, compressed high-resolution basemap

.XML

Steep Slope TIN Surface Contours & surface breaklines for grading design

04. Results

The integrated UAV aerial survey delivered complete engineering-ready assets in just over 1 week, drastically accelerating preliminary utility conflict analysis and design drafting.

Turnaround Acceleration

7-DAY TURNAROUND

Conventional Ground Mapping 8–12 Weeks

CONVENTIONAL DRAFTING: 10 WEEKS

Sky Shot UAV Workflow 7 Calendar Days

UAV: 1 WEEK

Consolidated months of asset documentation into a 7-day turnaround
Mapped hundreds of utility appurtenances into Civil 3D blocks
Streamlined preliminary design for municipal utility upgrades