Civil engineering is a complex discipline. In fact, it’s the second oldest engineering discipline apart from military engineering. Civil engineering is often associated with public works, but that’s not all it is. Civil engineering is any type of engineering that involves building infrastructure on top of the environment: Canals, bridges, and pipelines are most notable.
Since civil engineering involves directly impacting the environment (often in a significant way), surveys are incredibly important. Surveys make sure that protected environment isn’t adversely affected, that the structure is safe, and that the project is overall as efficient as possible.
So, what is surveying in civil engineering? It is a critical part of every stage of a project’s development. Here are some of the ways in which surveying is so incredibly important.
Inspect High Risk Areas Such as Bridges and Other Infrastructure
Through the use of drones, bridge surveys (and other types of high risk surveys) can be completed without any risk to personnel. A drone bridge inspection is naturally less dangerous than a conventional survey, as drones can get into areas that a person could not easily (or safely) get into. Drones can fly around a bridge or other complex infrastructure easily, thereby conducting more in-depth surveys and increasing the overall safety of the bridge.
Many of the bridges in South Africa are in disrepair, and it isn’t the bridges alone that are an issue. Canals, dams, and other civil infrastructure could be at risk of falling apart, because they aren’t being frequently inspected. Dams are among other, similar, infrastructure which cannot be easily inspected, and consequently may have issues that need to be repaired but haven’t yet been revealed.
Drones can fly very close to the ground, and they can hover, which means they can inspect areas that are otherwise inaccessible. And all of this makes it more likely to complete projects safely.