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Now that the drone craze has died down and everyone realizes that drones will not be the answer to all of their problems, lets discuss how drone inspections can be utilized to enhance the safety of our bridges. As we know regular and thorough bridge inspection can prevent accidents and increase the life of the infrastructure. Bridge failures and tragedies from the past has made the government and public concerned about the conditions of existing and newly built structures. As a result, many new technologies have been introduced to nondestructive testing methods to enhance the accuracy of the result, reduce the inspection time and increase the safety of the crew and public during bridge inspection. Drone inspection is one of those technologies. Albeit a very new one, this technology has the ability to reduce inspection cost and time significantly. To understand this we can just discuss the basics like there will no longer be the need to utilize heavy equipment to inspect hard to reach areas of the bridge. Bridge inspectors will no longer need to climb and put their lives at risk. With a drone, similar kind of inspections can be done at a lower cost and in less time than the same inspections conducted today. What kind of data drone collects? During a drone inspection, both visual, infrared and thermal imagery data is collected for real-time. An automated statistical process is used to convert the imagery data into a 3D ‘point cloud' which is easy to understand. A skilled bridge inspector can easily interpret the data and identify the locations of deteriorations on the bridge. Since the drone-collected data is geo-referenced with real geographic coordinates, therefore, a map can be easily created for the inspection crew to inspect the drone located deterioration areas closely. How is it different from conventional bridge inspection methods? During traditional bridge inspection, crew members have to climb ladders, perform scaffolding, undertake rope access procedures and walk on the roof to inspect the whole structure and its components for deteriorations. These practices carry risks and take a huge amount of time. The bridge also needs to close down partially or completely to carry the inspection work but with drone inspection, overall bridge inspection can be done in a fraction of the time with quick and easy setup and even faster inspection time. Infrastructure Preservation Corporation (IPC) is a trusted name in bridge inspections as well as a leader in nondestructive testing and robotic engineering. IPC utilizes the latest in nondestructive testing methods and robotics like Drones for quick surveying and inspection of complex structures. We have a range of patented inspection system for customized inspection of important bridge elements. Although drone inspections can do a lot they are not a cure all. Using them above a bridge deck or in plain view of the public can be dangerous and should be avoided. Below the deck and out of the public’s view they serve as a great additional tool to inspect hard to reach areas. For railroad Bridge Inspections that do no have pedestrian traffic they are great to obtain quick detailed visual inspection data. Although they are not a cure all, they do deserve a place in the inspection companies tool box and bridge owners should insist that they are utilized to keep costs down and provide more detailed information than is currently being collected. Infrastructure Preservation Corporation was an early adopter of drones and developed a drone that can stay aflight for 55minutes which is required for large structures. IPC’s drones also have a large payload capability so that additional inspection tools like lidar and infrared can be mounted and utilized during the same inspection. For more information contact IPC at www.infrastructurepc.com or email info@infrastructurepc.com. To know more about please follow this link: Movable Bridge Inspections and Ground Penetrating Radar.
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