By Monday morning, three teams were asking for the latest survey processing: quantity measurement, planning and field engineering. Cláudio Leite had uploaded new surveys to Maply on Friday. In his account, that recurring demand showed how drone data had become part of the construction team's working week.
The experience comes from an interview published by Maply in 2023. At the time, Leite was a surveying supervisor in the technical team at Construtora Barbosa Mello (CBM), a Brazilian construction company. He was working in Canaã dos Carajás, in the state of Pará, on industrial expansion works associated with a mining project. This case describes that Brazilian project and his experience during that period.
A weekly update with several users
Leite described uploading new flight data every Friday. Early on Monday, colleagues wanted to know about the processing. Their interest extended beyond the survey department: the outputs supported meeting discussions and progress reviews for civil works and earthworks.
Having Maply open during meetings allowed participants to look at the weekly change while discussing the work. The survey was therefore part of a recurring exchange between the people producing information and the people using it to plan and review construction.
Aggregate stockpiles were one example. Previously, Leite had calculated the stockpiles every 15 days, with field collection and processing work. In the workflow he described, the planning team could access Maply and measure them within the platform. The earlier interval describes the previous routine; the interview does not establish a quantified saving or a new fixed inventory frequency.
Reviewing a work area before mobilising crews
Asked about the main benefit, Leite focused on construction progress monitoring. He said the platform helped teams identify and address site conflicts before mobilising crews to work areas on the industrial expansion project.
He also described sending the client an image with a calculation when requesting authorisation to release a work area and a machine. The image and measurement gave the client information to consider alongside the request.
Leite associated these practices with fewer trips to obtain information already available in the survey, quicker discussions and opportunities to avoid rework. These are benefits reported by the interviewee. The interview does not provide a cost ledger, a measured reduction in rework or a return-on-investment calculation.
The useful detail is the point at which the information was used: before a crew moved into an area or while a client considered an authorisation. It links survey outputs to a specific site decision, rather than leaving progress imagery as a separate reporting activity.
Comparing dates during monthly client reviews
At the end of each month, the team met with clients to present quantity measurements and construction progress. Leite described using the platform to show visual and quantitative evidence and compare results from different dates.
He reported that the orthophoto helped clarify disagreements with the client. Participants could refer to the area under discussion and review the visible progress alongside the measurements. The account concerns evidence used in a discussion; it does not describe automatic acceptance of quantities or contractual claims.
Together, the weekly updates and monthly reviews illustrate two uses of the same type of information. Internal teams consulted it while planning and following the work, and the client saw dated evidence when reviewing progress.
How Leite began using photogrammetry
His learning started on an airport-area construction project in Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. The drone had initially been used for filming. Leite said he studied photogrammetry independently and carried out learning flights during the pandemic, when there were longer gaps between airport movements. The interview does not detail the permissions or flight planning for that historical activity.
At first, he used basic processing software, then extracted and modelled the data manually. He did not yet have a combined environment for viewing, analysis and sharing. A superintendent introduced him to Maply, with particular interest in comparing surveys to see construction progress between dates.
By the time Leite joined the project in Pará, Maply was already being used by the team. His own adoption still involved questions about the data and how confidently he could use it.
Confidence developed through checks
Leite initially had viewing access and wanted to understand whether the data were suitable for surveying work. Although field teams had already performed tests, he decided to conduct his own checks.
He described overlaying a project layer, looking at the agreement with site control and checking elevations. He said those observations increased his confidence in the results. The account contains no error values, independent checkpoint assessment or documented test protocol, so it cannot establish an accuracy specification for other surveys.
Applying the lesson to another project
The case gives project teams a practical question to ask: who will use each survey, and at what point in the working week? At CBM, the interview connected recurring uploads with named user groups, work-area decisions and client reviews. Those links are a useful starting point when designing a survey reporting routine.
Maply Platform offers maps, models, measurements and survey comparison to support such reviews. Another project should set its own delivery needs and acceptance criteria around the decisions it must make.
To discuss a workflow, contact Maply with a survey example, a recurring project meeting and the information the participants need from it.
