By: Brian Cury
Most transportation agencies now use construction cameras to capture project views, keeping their teams and the public up-to-date in real time. As webcams evolve, each new version introduces higher-quality, more versatile tools. Project teams are realizing the benefits of using panoramic construction cameras to monitor their large-scale, long-term bridge projects. These robotic systems go far beyond visual documentation tools—they also provide clear communication to the public.
Considering camera technology to document your next bridge project? Here are some things to consider:
• Not all webcams are the same. It is difficult to capture an entire bridge with a fixed-position camera. Consider a robotic camera that will pan, tilt and zoom, and, when positioned at the right vantage point, can scan the entire length of the project with one camera system. The result is that you end up with an extremely high-resolution 180-degree panorama of your project and you save money, since fewer cameras are necessary.
• Some cameras available today go far beyond megapixels and can create panoramas that are billions of pixels in size. If high-quality documentation is important to you, specify a gigapixel camera. The real differentiator of a panorama this size is that when you digitally zoom in to examine the picture detail, you are looking at an extremely high-resolution picture instead of a pixelated rendering. This clarity is important for dispute resolution, as well as memorable marketing.
• In today’s fast-paced environment, it is smart to rely on a construction camera that monitors specific areas like a robot photographer—scheduled to pan around your project, capturing different aspects of construction multiple times a day. Make sure you choose a webcam company that provides a user-controllable pan/tilt/zoom robotic camera, giving you the option to take control and navigate around the entire jobsite, using live video to look at sections that concern you. You can easily control some webcams remotely from your desktop or mobile device.
