C-DRONE GUIDE · 26 AUGUST 2026
Drone and Concrete Batching Plant: ICPE Heading 2518, Aggregate Stockpiles and Silo Cracks, Prices
Under the mixing tower of a ready-mix concrete batching plant, piles of sand and gravel rise and fall with each delivery, while up above, cement silos and the steel frame absorb dust, vibration and splashes year after year, with no technician climbing up there willingly. On the ground, one or more basins collect the truck-mixer wash water loaded with cement fines. Here is what the drone documents on this kind of site — aggregate stockpile volume, tower and silo condition, wash-water basins — and the prices.
Published on 26 August 2026, reviewed on 26 August 2026 — regulations in force as of August 2026.
Concrete batching plant (ready-mix): ICPE heading 2518 and the mixer-capacity criterion
A ready-mix concrete (RMC) batching plant fitted with a mechanised hydraulic binder feed system falls in France under ICPE heading 2518, excluding small automatic concrete vending machines classified separately under heading 2522. A quirk of this heading, much like the machine power that classifies a flour mill : the applicable regime is set neither by a tonnage nor by a storage volume, but by the mixer's capacity. A plant whose mixer does not exceed 3 m³ falls under declaration, governed by the order of 26 November 2011 ; beyond 3 m³, it moves to registration, governed by the order of 8 August 2011. Nearly all fixed industrial-scale plants, whose mixer far exceeds this threshold, therefore fall under registration.
This classification drives concrete requirements : containment and treatment of process and wash water, control of cement dust drift, noise limits towards neighbours, upkeep of settling basins. A concrete batching plant differs here from a quarry or a materials merchant : the sensitive point is not only the aggregate stockpile in the yard, but also the structure up high — mixing tower, cement silos, hoppers — which stays in continuous operation and does not lend itself to regular access by lift or scaffolding.
Aggregate stockpiles: volume measurement by photogrammetry
A concrete batching plant's yard lines up several aggregate piles separated by type and grade — 0/4 mm sand, 4/10 or 10/20 mm gravel — whose level drops and rises as deliveries and batches are produced. Counting these piles by eye from the ground gives a rough order of magnitude ; a drone photogrammetric survey produces a 3D model of each pile and calculates its volume with far greater precision, on the same principle detailed in our guide to drone stockpile volume measurement at a quarry.
A study by M. H. Rohizan and co-authors, published in 2021 in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, compared quarry aggregate stockpile volume measured by drone photogrammetry against a conventional method, finding a gap of only 2.5 % between the two approaches (see the study on Google Scholar). That level of precision is more than enough for management purposes : planning resupply before a pile drops below a critical level during a busy construction season, documenting a month-end inventory, or settling a disputed stock rotation with an aggregate supplier. It never replaces the weighing hoppers that dose each batch : that precision governs the delivered concrete's strength and is exclusively the job of the plant's certified batching equipment.
Mixing tower and cement silos: what an overflight checks
The mixing tower, often fifteen to twenty-five metres tall, and the cement silos alongside it form a concrete batching plant's most exposed structure : continuous vibration from the mixer, abrasion from cement dust, splashes of cement fines, corrosion accelerated by process moisture. A photogrammetric flight produces an orthophoto and 3D model of the whole — walkways, caged ladders, silo shells, steel frame —, without sending a technician up a vibrating, live structure.
The resulting reading draws on a technique already documented in the scientific literature : a study by H. Kim, J. Lee, E. Ahn and co-authors, published in 2017 in the journal Sensors, developed and validated a drone-based crack identification method for concrete structures, combining a distance sensor with hybrid image processing to precisely locate each crack spotted in flight (see the study on Google Scholar). Applied to a mixing tower, this reading spots a through crack, a spalled patch of concrete with exposed rebar, a loose bolt or a corrosion stain on the frame — clues that steer a structural assessment by an engineering firm, without ever replacing it : neither a crack's depth nor the state of internal reinforcement can be read from the outside.
Wash-water settling basins, method and prices
Every truck mixer rinsed at the end of a cycle, every mixer or hopper clean-out generates water loaded with cement fines — laitance — which flows into one or more settling basins before reuse or controlled discharge. As with a sugar beet factory, whose basins face a comparable strain, a periodic photogrammetric survey shows silting and the actually available useful volume, without an operator having to approach a basin edge made slippery by deposits.
The mission runs half a day at a typical site : a safety briefing with the plant manager, flagging active loading areas to avoid hovering over, truck-mixer traffic in the yard, a take-off point set clear. As with any mission on an industrial site, the prevention plan is settled before the flight. A concrete batching plant often sits in a peri-urban business park, sometimes near an aerodrome or main roads : always check the zone on Géoportail before any quote, particularly for a site within a built-up area, as detailed in our guide to flying a drone in French cities, and require the contractor to hold up-to-date professional liability insurance.
2026 prices (excl. VAT) : €400 to €800 for a one-off aggregate stockpile measurement ; €900 to €1,800 for a full campaign combining stockpile volume, an orthophoto of the tower and silos, and a wash-water basin survey ; €250 to €500 per visit for recurring stock monitoring (several monthly measurements) ; €350 to €700 for a standalone tower-and-silo inspection. A travel charge applies beyond a 30 to 50 km radius. Request a quote stating the mixer's capacity, the number of silos and the goal (inventory, regulatory file or structural assessment).
Frequently asked questions
Does drone imagery replace weighing the aggregates for concrete mix dosing?
No. Dosing a concrete mix relies on weighing hoppers and automated batching systems, calibrated and controlled to ready-mix concrete production standards : that precision governs the finished structure's strength and is not up for debate. Drone volume measurement gives an order of magnitude for the stock visible in the yard — useful for planning resupply orders or a month-end inventory — but never takes part in dosing a single batch.
Can a drone overflight detect a crack on a cement silo up high?
It effectively spots what is visible on the surface : a through crack, a spalled patch of concrete with exposed rebar, a rust stain running from an anchor point, loose bolts on the tower's steel frame. It does not, however, measure a crack's depth or the corrosion state of internal reinforcement, which calls for a structural assessment by an engineering firm ; the drone pass serves to flag the points that justify that expertise, not to replace it.
Does the plant need to stop production during the flight?
No, the mission runs around the edges of the activity : the drone avoids any hover directly above the loading hopper or the mixing station during a truck-mixer cycle, and focuses its shots of the tower, silos and stockpiles from a clear flight path. The safety briefing with the plant manager, before the flight, sets the timing and the areas to avoid during active loading phases.