Aerial mapping · Chicago area
Your jobsite, measured from 400 ft.
Drone mapping, stockpile volumes and progress documentation for contractors, developers and engineers. Flown and processed by a civil engineer who works on active heavy civil jobsites every week.
What we deliver
Every flight ends in files your team can open: survey-ready maps, measured quantities and a dated visual record of the site.
Progress documentation
Scheduled flights that show what was built and when. Useful for owner updates, pay applications and claims.
Stockpile volumes
Cut, fill and stockpile quantities measured from a 3D surface model instead of estimated by eye.
Orthomosaic maps
One georeferenced image of the whole site, true to scale, ready to overlay on your plans in CAD or GIS.
Topography & 3D models
Elevation models and point clouds for site planning, drainage review and earthwork checks.
Visual inspection
Close-range photos of structures, roofs and hard-to-reach areas without lifts or lane closures.
Pre-construction records
A baseline of existing conditions before work starts, so disputes are settled with images, not memory.
Resolution by job
Ground sample distance (GSD) is the real-world size of one pixel. Lower altitude means finer detail but longer flights. We pick the altitude your deliverable actually needs.
| Deliverable | Target GSD | Flight altitude (AGL) | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Progress documentationSite overview, owner updates | 2.0–5.0 cm/px 0.8–2.0 in/px |
350–400 ft | |
| Stockpile volumesAggregate, spoil, material piles | 1.5–3.0 cm/px 0.6–1.2 in/px |
270–400 ft | |
| Orthomosaic & topographySite maps, earthwork checks | 1.0–2.0 cm/px 0.4–0.8 in/px |
180–350 ft | |
| Detailed mappingWith ground control points | 0.5–1.0 cm/px 0.2–0.4 in/px |
90–180 ft | |
| Structure inspectionBridges, roofs, facades | under 0.5 cm/px under 0.2 in/px |
under 90 ft, manual |
Altitudes are for our 1-inch, 50 MP mapping camera. All flights stay at or below the FAA Part 107 ceiling of 400 ft above ground level. Near O'Hare, Midway and other controlled airspace we request authorization before the flight date.
How a job runs
From first call to delivered files, usually within a week for a standard site.
Consult
You tell us the site, the acreage and what the data is for. We confirm the deliverable and the resolution it needs.
Plan
We check airspace, get authorization if needed, and build the flight grid, overlap and altitude.
Fly
An automated grid flight on site, coordinated with your superintendent so work keeps moving.
Deliver
Processed maps, models and a written report, shared by link and sent to your inbox.
About
Built from the field
Lemus Infrastructure Group is run by Christian Lemus, a civil engineering graduate from the University of Illinois Chicago and a working construction inspector on major interstate projects in the Chicago area.
That field experience shapes the work. The maps and reports are made for the people who use them: superintendents checking quantities, project managers reporting to owners, and engineers who need data they can trust.
- Pilot
- FAA Part 107 certified remote pilot
- Education
- B.S. Civil Engineering, UIC
- Licensure
- Engineer-in-Training candidate
- Field work
- Heavy civil construction inspection
- Service area
- Chicago, Cook, DuPage, Will and Lake counties
Free consultation
Tell us about your site
No cost and no commitment. Send the basics and we will reply within one business day with a recommended scope and a quote.
Prefer email?
info@lemusinfrastructure.com