Drone test on the Ohio Turnpike for bridge inspection work

(WTVG)
Published: Sep. 13, 2016 at 4:27 PM EDT
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New technology was on display along the Ohio Turnpike today. It was a drone inspection demonstration. The Ohio Turnpike Commission and ODOT are among the agencies testing the use of drones to inspect bridges.

Tuesday's demonstration was done on a turnpike bridge outside Fremont, but the hope is that one day it can be used to check on thousands of bridges throughout Ohio. Ken Banaszik is a bridge inspector for ODOT,"Basically it's a flying camera and what it will help us with is areas that are hard to access physically."

The Sandusky River Bridge on the turnpike is a perfect spot to put the technology to the test. The majority of the bridge is over water, and it's too high to use ladders or lifts for inspections, so they have to bring in specialized trucks. That makes the bridge is a good example of how the technology can be used.

Randy Cole is the Executive Director of the Ohio Turnpike Commission,"If we were doing a traditional inspection we'd be using a truck parked on the side of the road and we'd put up barrels to slow traffic. The inspectors would be dangling from the bridge in harnesses. Now they can do the inspections based on the data from the drone and dot it from a safe location."

Cole says the belief is that drone inspections will cut down on time and expense as well as improve safety for workers and drivers, "In these days of distracted driving, anytime we don't have to put up an orange barrel or put a worker in traffic is a good day for us."

The goal is to use the technology throughout the state. David Gallagher is the Chief of Staff for the Ohio UAS Center, a division of ODOT, "At the Ohio Department of Transportation we inspect about 14,000 bridges every year, so this would be a huge help in a lot of cases."

The drones are specifically designed for this kind of work. With a live video feed and special sensors for the operator. Briton Voorhees is an Application Sales Engineer with senseFly, the company that designed the specialized drones,"Its custom-made for inspections. We build the cameras around that and the sensors around that. You'll see a lot more of that moving forward."

While the technology is expanding, Voorhees says it will not replace human inspectors, "It will never replace the men and women who inspect the bridges. The way we see it is it is another tool for them to use in their work book."

So when will the drones officially be put to work here in Ohio? Cole says it could be within a matter of months, "We're trying to get the fleet ready whether we own them or have availability of them through someone else. It could be as soon as next year."

Cole says the use of the drones could eventually be expanded to include things like search and rescue as well as accident scenes.