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

  • Tunnels - an environmentally attractive option?
    February 21, 2012
    While tunnels are often more expensive than bridges, they can offer environmentally attractive options for transport schemes. Tunnels offer environmentally attractive options for a range of transport infrastructure schemes, but in many cases high construction costs may restrict their use.
    Read More
  • Securing safer transportation infrastructure through non-destructive technology
    June 16, 2014
    Kevin Vine reports on the use of non-destructive testing for structural analysis of bridges Seven years ago, the overpass collapse in Laval, Québec that led to the death of five people brought to light severe issues with the state of the country’s bridges and transportation infrastructure. More recently, a crack in the Champlain Bridge to Montreal that forced over 160,000 commuters to find alternate routes to work reaffirmed a need for greater emphasis on early detection before a crisis occurs.
    Read More
  • Foiled by foliage from Biotecture
    June 27, 2022
    Richard Sabin, managing director of Biotecture*, details how living walls provide an innovative solution for reducing air pollution and improve air quality along congested urban highways.
    Read More
  • Public-private participation for highway law enforcement
    April 18, 2017
    In some countries, public-private partnerships for road traffic law enforcement are helping to greatly reduce traffic fatalities. But careful implementation is essential, according to a new white paper. Big brother is watching you. Speed cameras are just a cash cow for local authorities. Police use them to keep their speeding ticket statistics high. The list of suspicions goes on. But there is nothing suspicious about road deaths, says Philip Wijers, chairman of the sub-committee on enforcement at the US-ba
    Read More

Highlighted Content