Balfour’s float drone

West Sussex County Council in the UK, in partnership with Balfour Beatty Living Places, is trialling a drone with a slight difference for bridge inspections – it floats. The floatable drone is at work on two bridges - Swan Bridge in Pulborough and Adur Ferry Bridge in Shoreham-By-Sea - saving around €9,230 over the cost of traditional inspections, according to the council and Balfour Beatty.Routine inspections are carried out on all bridges every two years.
September 1, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

West Sussex County Council in the UK, in partnership with 1146 Balfour Beatty Living Places, is trialling a drone with a slight difference for bridge inspections – it floats.

The floatable drone is at work on two bridges - Swan Bridge in Pulborough and Adur Ferry Bridge in Shoreham-By-Sea - saving around €9,230 over the cost of traditional inspections, according to the council and Balfour Beatty.

Routine inspections are carried out on all bridges every two years. Traditionally, inspection work requires traffic management to allow inspectors to safely carry out works at height and over water, causing disruption to the public and road users. The use of drones to review the condition of a bridge reduces potential health and safety risks, as well as dramatically reducing costs, disruption and inconvenience to members of the public by removing the need for traffic management.

Operated by one of Balfour Beatty’s six Civil Aviation Authority licensed drone pilots, each drone is fitted with recording equipment to allow the workforce on the ground to review the condition of the bridge once filming is completed. To make sure the drone is operated safely, a second camera is used to film the drone in action, with an assistant reviewing the safety parameters around the drone in real time.

The drones are also fitted with protective floats to enable them to safely land on water if required, as well as a GPS system to prevent them illegally flying into ‘no fly zones’, such as airport space.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bridge improvements reduce flood threat
    April 4, 2012
    The impact of the new Eden Bridge over the River Eden on its flood plain is a key issue to the construction of the Carlisle Northern Development Route (CNDR).
    Read More
  • Boom times for SRL
    December 14, 2021
    SRL Traffic Systems has announced an exclusive partnership with barrier and gate manufacturer Solar Gates UK to hire out the manufacturer’s INSTABOOM work zone barriers.
    Read More
  • Tensar’s Spectra Pavement Optimisation system at work in Durham
    August 3, 2017
    Tensar’s flexible and reactive approach to optimising pavement design has delivered cost savings on a project to expand a science and technology park in England. The US$6.7 million NETPark Phase 3A Infrastructure project in county Durham will see construction of a spine road and side roads. The road will open up 10.5ha of development land at the North East Technology Park. The ambitious expansion plans will create additional space for research and development companies which need room to prototype and scale
    Read More
  • ASECAP: maintenance mindshift turns spending into investment
    August 4, 2017
    With an estimated value of €8 trillion, the road infrastructure is probably the European Union’s largest single asset. It accounts for 83% of passenger journeys and more than 70% of freight movement. Despite this importance, global investment in roads - especially maintenance - has fallen, said Christophe Nicodeme, European Road Federation secretary general. There are grave consequences, noted Nicodeme in his opening keynote address to the recent Study and Information Days gathering, an annual event for mem
    Read More

Highlighted Content