The aim of the study presented in this paper is the development of a labor consumption measurement system based on real-time tracking technology for use on a dam construction site. Such technology includes Global Positioning System (GPS), and Geographic Information System (GIS). The system is three-layered and aims to solve several labor computational and usability challenges. The software for processing the collected data, presenting real-time site state visualization, and the accurate analysis of on-site labor consumption is run by smart phones with GPS devices, on-site private wireless base stations, and servers. The benefits of this quantitative labor consumption measurement approach for hydropower projects include the provision, for each dam monolith, of precise information regarding both the number and category of laborers together with their respective working hours. Such knowledge provides adequate quality management information for the owner and the supervisor and importantly aids payment negotiations with contractors. The proposed system was firstly applied to the world's third largest hydropower project. On-site tests successfully demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the whole system. The results achieved show that the system is able to log entire on-site trajectories of laborers, and calculate the accurate labor consumption of each dam monolith. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.