West Sussex Council and Balfour Beatty trial drone technology for bridge inspections
TIN news: West Sussex County Council has partnered with Balfour Beatty Living Places to trial drone technologies for inspecting bridges across the UK county.
Balfour Beatty Living Places has been working with local authorities to create places that are suitable to live, work and play.
Until now, inspections were carried out at Swan Bridge in Pulborough and Adur Ferry Bridge in Shoreham-By-Sea.
Drones were operated by the Balfour Beatty’s six Civil Aviation Authority licensed drone pilots, where each UAV fitted with recording equipment that enabled the inspection team to assess the bridge condition after completing the filming process.
In order to ensure that the drone is operated safely, a second camera was used by the team to film it in action, with an assistant studying the safety parameters around the UAV in real-time.
Drones were also equipped with protective floats to enable them to safely land on water, as well as a GPS system to prevent them entering ‘no fly zones’, such as airport space.
Balfour Beatty Living Places contract director Steve Phillips said: “At Balfour Beatty, we are continually assessing how we can utilise technology, such as the use of drones, to drive efficiencies in project delivery and improved health and safety across all aspects of highways construction, maintenance and operation.
“Using drones in our highways inspection work allows us to safely assess the work required, while dramatically reducing any potential hazards faced by our workforce who would traditionally carry out work such as bridge inspections at height.
“It’s a great example of how modern technology can be successfully used by industry.”
Transport authorities carry out bridge inspections for every two years, where traffic restrictions were being imposed in order to help bridge inspectors to perform works safely at a height and over water.
With the help of this new drone technology, transport authorities have been able to reduce both the risk and costs involved in bridge inspections.
West Sussex County Council Infrastructure manager Kieran Dodds said: “The use of drones enables us to obtain the necessary information to determine our highway structures are safe for use, while reducing the risk to our inspectors who conventionally would have to use access equipment when working at height.”
