Case Study: Bacon Farmer Workman Engineering and Testing prevents costly solar site construction errors with WingtraOne

Drone solar land survey data prevents construction errors on flooded Illinois soil

Bacon Farmer Workman Engineering and Testing, Inc. (BFW) needed a site-plan map for a 1,700-acre solar farm in flood-prone southern Illinois, but the wet season, impassable wetlands, strong winds, and a tight deadline made ground surveying extremely difficult. After testing other options, BFW determined that WingtraOne was the only drone that could safely and efficiently cover the large site.

Using WingtraOne with the Sony QX1 payload, Wingtra helped BFW capture high-resolution aerial survey data in about six flight hours over five field days, producing orthomosaics, 3D models, and elevation maps with about 4.4–4.5 cm accuracy. The results helped the client identify flood-prone areas and avoid costly construction mistakes, cutting the client’s survey cost by nearly half versus traditional methods, increasing BFW’s profit by 40%, and allowing the drone investment to pay for itself on this job.

Bacon Farmer Workman Engineering and Testing, Inc. (BFW)

Jacob Cash

Mobile Mapping and LiDAR Department Manager