Comparative Evaluation Of Excavation Volume By Tls And Total Topographic Station Based Methods

Nowadays volume values are used in many engineering studies, such as road projects, mining enterprises, geological works and building applications. A volume can be computed by geodetic, trapezoidal and improved methods such as Simpson-based, cubic spline, and cubic Hermite formula. These improved methods model the object surface as nonlinear profiles. As the associated technology has developed then so have the opportunities for the development of new techniques in surface modelling. Now, the generation of a three-dimensional (3D) model is generally achieved by non-contact systems based on light waves and can be completed on a computer. This is particularly useful in situations where there are risks attached to reaching the location to be modelled - the calculations can be performed from a photograph or from scanned images of the object. In this study the performance of a laser scanning method, robotic total station instrument and geodetic method of volume computation were investigated. The volume computation was carried out using these methods in an excavation area and the methods were compared in terms of accuracy, time and cost. It was concluded that all the methods can satisfactorily be used for volume computing; however, the choice of method should be made according to the location and size of area, required accuracy, budget and time frame. © 2010 Old City Publishing, Inc.