As part of our works for West Sussex County Council, we inspect the authority's bridges including those that span waterways, are of significant height or have other factors that restrict access.
To overcome this restricted access, we’re trialling the use of drones for inspections. Using drones help us safely survey the bridges by capturing high resolution images and video. These images and videos are vital to understanding what maintenance, if any, is required and help us make sure we have the right skills, materials and tools in place when undertaking repairs. Following the completion of repair works, the drones can also be used to document the work.
As well as helping us to get it right first time, this approach also reduces disruption to the public as less traffic management is required during inspection works.