Digital Data Capture – Cost or Benefit?
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2018-12-28

This presentation will examine the costs of recording historic buildings and archaeological sites using modern survey technology such as laser scanning and SfM photogrammetry.
In the last 10-15 years general survey industry has comprehensively adopted laser scanning as the most cost effective route to achieving measured building survey and a number of firms are also increasingly using SfM photogrammetry to supplement or in some cases replace laser scan data. General capital and on-going costs for purchasing laser scanning equipment and software will be presented and compared with the lower start-up costs of photogrammetry. The relative efficiencies of using both techniques compared with hand planning or TST survey will then be discussed. Another alternative is to sub-contract recording work to a dedicated survey company and average costs for this will be examined.

Finally case studies of a recent laser scan surveys of archaeological excavations and standing building survey will be presented.

David Andrews