Apologies if this is posted in the wrong place, or if it is not allowed at all.
Please delete if appropriate.
I wanted to post this as I am trying to find a more cost effective solution using drones to an age old problem of site surveys.
The company I work for carries out maintenance work on tall structures around the UK including towers, masts, chimneys etc in rural and urban locations.
These structures range from 20m to 300m in height, tall masts having stays and most of them actively transmitting either telecoms or high power broadcast (MF, VHF, UHF).
Traditionally, ahead of providing costs for whatever the scope of works is, we would perform a climbing survey involving climbers, rigging equipment and of course safety systems.
This is time consuming and expensive and so I am tentatively looking to see if anyone knows of any organisations that would be interested in carrying out surveys.
I am aware of the hazards around these structures, both physical and radio interference and these may well be sufficient for drone surveys to be impractical.
Clearly a lot of work would need to be undertaken to agree a scope for such surveys and survey output would need discussion but would clearly be a series of videos and high definition photos of areas of interest on the structure.
@timxjr1300 Hi Tim, sound a very good idea but the limit on drones is 120m ASL unless you could get approval from the CAA. This would save a lot of climbing unless you have to check fixings. Good luck on your hunt.
Isn’t there an exception when using the drone commercially to survey building? My memory says you can fly a certain height above any building that you are working the drone on, meaning you can fly over the 120limit
Edit: found it here
“If the person or organisation responsible for a very tall structure over 105m asks you to carry out a task related to their structure, you’re allowed to fly higher than 120m (400ft). For example, if they ask you to take pictures for a survey.
You must never fly more than 15m above the structure.”
You can always give air traffic a ring and see if you can get clearance for more if you need it, too.
The separation from manned aviation safety rules part of the drone code are all just what you’re allowed to do without asking for more for your operation.
I’m sure any UAV company with an Operational Authorisation would be happy to quote for the work … there are lots out there.
One consideration when picking the company would be their aircraft capability (i.e. being able to fly more days out of the year than others, zoom photography/video, redundancies, fail-safes, control/telemetry bands outside of your main transmission bands etc etc) and also what ‘backend’ processing they can offer e.g. do they have trained surveyors who can give you a condition report, or would you rely on in house capability.
You want a survey company that uses drones, not a drone company that does surveys. One that is used to working with infrastructure clients, proper professional risk assessments, and expertise in data handling.
I can’t recommend any although I have used one or two professionally. A quick google suggests Sky Revolutions have experience in transmission mast drone surveys, but I’m sure you’d find others.
