•   ABOUT
  •   CONTACT
  •   LOG-IN/REGISTER

Railtalent

  • HOMEPAGE
  • NEWS
    • 2021-2022 Train Rail Hackathon
  • CAREER PATHWAYS
    • Infrastructure
    • Vehicles
    • Operations
    • Signalling
    • Economics
    • Administration
    • Academia
    • Career Profiles
  • MEMBERS
    • Research
    • Education & Training
    • Enterprises
    • Associations & Networks
    • Individuals
    • Education Providers Directory
  • PARTICIPATE
    • Events
    • Courses
I AM/SEARCH RAILTALENT
Tuesday, 27 March 2018 / Published in General

Network Rail ramps up use of UAVs for better asset management

Network Rail, the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the rail network in England, Scotland and Wales, has announced drones are set to play a central role in its assets management.
The route structures asset management team is trialling the use of drones to inspect large structures in a safer and more cost efficient way.
The vehicles are being used to get a closer look at five arch viaducts on the route, including the Grade 1 listed, 28-span Royal Border Bridge in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.
Since 2017 the structures team has been working alongside AECOM consulting engineers, Network Rail’s Air Operations team and UAV specialists Cyberhawk to carry out the inspections, gaining a panoramic bird’s eye view of the structures.
With an increasing number of structural assessments, including many arch viaducts, the team had identified a need for a more efficient inspection method to supplement the more traditional access techniques typically used.
“UAVs are commonly used in other industries such as oil and utilities to inspect their structures, such as pylons and oil rigs. We thought ‘why not try them out?’” said Terry Donaldson, scheme project manager at Network Rail.
“As well as being cost effective, this innovation has reduced the need for possessions, track access and roped access, reducing safety risk. The quality of the information our asset engineers have received has also been much better than what can normally be produced with standard inspection techniques.”
The high-definition images captured by the UAVs will be examined by asset managers. Previously, photographs would be taken by the engineer as they carried out the inspection at height – abseiling down the structure, often in the dark and poor weather – with views limited to where the person could reach and see.
Sam De’Ath, asset engineer of structures at Network Rail, added: “It seemed a good idea for us to start unleashing UAVs on some of our bridges. They’ve turned out to be an excellent tool for the inspection of arch viaducts in particular, such that further UAV inspections are now being planned.
“Aerial inspections can’t fully replace an engineer with a hammer – some degree of tactile inspection is still needed – but we’re now able to use the better imagery to find areas of concern and target those.”

  • Tweet
Tagged under: Rail Asset Management

What you can read next

Railway supply industry news round-up
Jobs secured as Amey acquires NR’s Carillion contracts
Consortium selected for Los Angeles Airport PPP rail project

Contribute

  • Login

Recent Posts

  • A Career in the Railway Industry

    The railway industry in Poland, as well as in m...
  • 10th International Railway Summit

    Rail leaders will gather to determine the futur...
  • EU launches website European Year of Rail

    Shortly before the beginning of the new year, t...
  • Female metro drivers back on Moscow lines after decades of restriction

    On January 3, the first female metro driver sin...
  • THE NEW ITALIAN RAILWAY RULE BOOK

    TRAINing S.r.l., Venice, Italy Railway Training...

Categories

  • General
  • General News
  • Featured
  • Profile
  • Strategic
  • Jobpost
  • Tactical
  • Operational
  • Infrastructure
  • Signalling
  • Vehicles
  • Operations
  • Economics
  • Administration
  • Academia
  • Gender equity
  • Sustainable mobility

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017

Get in Touch With Us.

Join the community of Rail Talents

CONTACT US NOW

Rail Talents is the platform for:

  • Exchanging experiences, knowledge, success stories and management practices with international peers;
  • Publishing and reading of  articles, videos, blogs, presentations;
  • Developing competencies and expertise;
  • Engaging with a wide range stakeholders: railway professionals, industry partners, universities, etc.

MEMBERS

  • Research
  • Education & Training
  • Enterprises
  • Associations & Networks
  • Individuals

PATHWAYS

  • Infrastructure
  • Vehicles
  • Signalling
  • Economics
  • Operations
  • Administration
  • Academia
  • Profiles

PARTICIPATE

  • Events
  • Courses

COPYRIGHT 2018 RAILWAY TALENTS

What are you looking for?

I am a future Rail Talent

Students, apprentices, professionals outside of the rail sector

CLICK FOR MORE INFO

I am Rail Talent

Rail professionals,, consultants, trainers, researchers, experts.

CLICK FOR MORE INFO

I am looking for Rail Talent

Employers, project managers, employment agencies, job boards.

CLICK FOR MORE INFO
TOP