Browsing by Author "Neethling, Johannes Henoch"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemThe feasibility of using commercially available remotely piloted aircraft for network level visual inspection activities on provincial structures in the Western Cape(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Neethling, Johannes Henoch; Jurgens, Chris; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Civil Engineering.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) of the Western Cape is accountable for effectively managing its bridges on a network level. The role comprises routine principal and safety inspections in accordance with the Technical Methods for Highways (TMH) 19 and the Construction Regulation (CR) 2014. Although the TMH19 human-based inspection methods are effective in detecting defects and identifying complex failure modes, the approach is resource intensive, time consuming, costly, dangerous at times and may yield subjective results. In addition, the DTPW has been unable to meet the safety inspection requirements of the CR2014 due to limited resources, lack of official safety inspection guidelines, and the needed high frequency of inspections. Utilising Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) for bridge inspections has been widely researched and promoted as a feasible alternative to conventional human-based inspection methods. RPA technology has the potential to increase the quality of data, decrease time spent on site and mitigate safety risks while fulfilling mandatory inspections and legal compliance. Using RPAs for bridge inspections has been successfully implemented in many countries. However, despite their potential RPAs are rarely used for bridge inspection activities in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Alternative approaches are proposed to address shortcomings in the TMH19 human-based inspection practices and to meet the CR2014 safety inspection requirements. These approaches include leveraging off-the-shelf RPAs and photogrammetric technology to create photo-realistic 3D digital models for extracting inventory data more effectively and to perform virtual safety inspections. The feasibility of these approaches was demonstrated through RPA test flights at two bridge sites. The findings were validated against the 2019 Principal Bridge Inspections information. Utilising off-the-shelf RPAs and manually extracting data from photo-realistic digital 3D models eliminated the need to transfer data from on-site paper notes to a digital platform while also meeting all the TMH19 inventory requirements. An off-site, computer-based visual bridge safety inspection was performed to determine whether the structure was fit for its intended design purpose and safe for continued use as required in terms of CR2014. It was shown that the condition information could be manually evaluated with little effort, and that the extracted information was sufficient to be used for a high-level visual assessment. The virtual inspection eliminates the need for field notes, mitigates gross mistakes and makes it unlikely that any detail of importance is omitted.