The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to use drones to inspect bridges beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).
In partnership with Skydio, a leading U.S. drone manufacturer and world leader in autonomous flight, NCDOT will inspect the state’s 13,500 bridges using Skydio Autonomy, an advanced AI-based autonomous flight engine that allows Skydio drones to navigate in any environment, including areas without GPS, using 360° obstacle avoidance.
The state is the first to secure a state-wide BVLOS waiver for bridge inspection. The waiver will mean inspectors can send drones to look at the critical structures below bridges in North Carolina instead of rappelling down the structure or using expensive snooper trucks.
A recent study by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) found that drone inspections can reduce the cost per bridge inspection by as much as 75 percent while saving up to $14,600 per inspection in social disruption costs.
The typical cost to inspect a bridge – two inspectors operating for 8 hours and closing down a bridge for eight hours – is estimated to be around $4,600, representatives from Skydio said in a blog post. The cost to use drones in the same inspection is about $1,200 for two operators working for one hour.
“Drones are a fantastic new tool for our Bridge Inspection Units,” North Carolina Secretary of Transportation Eric Boyette said. “Safety is our top priority at NCDOT, and this new system helps improve the safety of not only our bridges and other infrastructure, but of our inspectors as well.