How UAVs can be deployed for Right of Way Survey Work

Pipeline companies own and manage extensive right of way corridors.  One of the key challenges facing such companies is getting up to date aerial imagery.  Maps available on the internet, for example, can be years out of date and can lack sufficient detail, especially in remote areas and satellite images are too coarse.  Hiring a full-size helicopter is expensive and may disturb local inhabitants and animals at low levels.

However, there is a practical and cost-effective alternative – using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which are similar to military drones.  Cyberhawk Innovations are world leaders in using remotely operated UAVs to inspect structures at height.  These ‘flying robots’ can be operated in hostile, hot or gaseous environments.  This technology is now being widely used in the oil and gas industry to inspect live flares, live chimney stacks and cooling towers at refineries and offshore platforms.  The company is now using the same UAV technology to provide aerial photography, aerial videography and land surveying services for pipeline companies and right of way surveys.

The UAV is a lower cost method of gaining up to date aerial imagery. This can be used to capture the following:

• Aerial photography and videography for stretches of pipelines, to provide location of roads, hydrography, topography, wetlands and structures.
• Aerial photography and videography for areas of particular interest, such as construction sites, to aid construction planning, for example planning where to construct access roads and where to situate large plant such as cranes.
• Aerial photography to create aerial photo mosaics and maps.
• Aerial photography for photogrammetry for topographical land surveys, to aid route planning or construction planning.

The benefits of this technique have been recognised by SSE (Scottish & Southern Energy plc) who recently awarded Cyberhawk Innovations a six figure framework contract for surveying and mapping their electricity transmission network.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/08072011/how_uavs_can_be_deployed_for_right_of_way_survey_work/