How Drones can Optimize Infrastructure Inspections

Infrastructure inspections – whether it’s transmission & distribution lines, natural gas infrastructure, dams or bridges – are an absolute necessity to help maximize reliability, which, as you know, is intricately tied to emergency preparedness. 

This is especially important considering that some of America’s utility infrastructure is old and decaying, but conducting regular infrastructure inspections is grueling work that can be slow, unsafe, and ripe for error.  Using drones instead of people is an excellent solution to this problem.

How Drones can Streamline Infrastructure Inspections

Because drones can increase the speed and accuracy of infrastructure inspections, while at the same time reducing the cost, utilities and similar entities that deploy this solution can get ahead of the curve when it comes to asset failures and preventative maintenance.  In other words, equipment problems could be detected before a failure occurs, reducing outage frequency. 

Here are some examples of how drones can help utilities and energy companies streamline their infrastructure inspections:

• Transmission & distribution lines – In Puerto Rico, after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, drones pulled over 70,000 feet of rope for conductor wire in 8 weeks.  This same job without the use of drones would have taken up to 8 months to complete.
• Oil and Gas pipelines – Oil & gas pipeline operators have started using drones to monitor pipes, saving 90% compared to traditional methods.  Drones have also proven that they can quickly and proactively identify problems like leaks, which allows operators to address small problems before they morph into huge environmental disasters. 
• Wind turbine surveying – A recent pilot program showed that drones can reduce the cost of turbine inspections by at least 30%, and can inspect the blades on both sides for maximum diagnostic capability, something that is generally not possible with a people-based approach.
• Dams & hydroelectric equipment – Drones are ideal for inspecting large, complex shapes like dams due to their ability to use 3D modelling to identify previously undetectable issues.

As you can see, drone technology can help cut costs and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure inspections, which will help improve reliability, reduce outages, and make the lives of emergency planners slightly more comfortable.