The Photogrammetric Survey of a Prehistoric Site Undergoing Removal

For the construction of the new Athens International Airport, it was imperative that a hill, obstructing air traffic, be lowered by approximately 40 m. Unfortunately, a fortified prehistoric settlement was situated on top of that hill. In order to carry out this task, it was required: (a) to produce a model of the site at a scale of 1;50; and (b) to monitor and document every single stone during the dismantling of the most important parts of the site, so that its rebuilding elsewhere and at a later time would be possible.
The Laboratory of Photogrammetry, National Technical University of Athens, undertook to provide the necessary metric data. By using low altitude aerial photographs from a helicopter, a specialized tripod and terrestrial photogrammetric techniques, the following products were created, all at a scale of 1;50: contour lines and DTM of the site; digital orthophotograph of the site; graphic drawing of the development of the exterior of the surrounding wall; and graphic drawings of the upper (initial) and the lower (last) levels of the parts to be removed. In this paper, both the fieldwork and the final products are presented and evaluated.