Texas Universities Partner to Determine Best UAS Practices for Inspections
A team of researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) will lead a research initiative that will look into the best ways to use UAS when inspecting highways and railroads remotely.
UTA will have assistance from teams from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI).
In a press release published on UTA’s website, Civil Engineering Professor Anand Puppala, the primary investigator on this project, explained why using UAS was the best way to conduct inspections.
“It is safer and less expensive to use a UAV to check pavement performance characteristics because there is no need to close lanes and a person doesn't have to be on the roadway or on active railroad tracks,” Puppala said.
“The high-resolution photos that we will receive will provide as much information as an instrument on the pavement.”
UTA Dean of Engineering Peter Crouch added, “the use of unmanned vehicle technology to monitor infrastructure in the U.S. is growing fast. This project focused on highways and railways will help make a huge difference in the state's ability to maintain and ensure continued safety and reliability of key commerce routes.”
The entities involved in this project have signed a two-year agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation, worth nearly $800,000 dollars for funding.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and TTI will create procedural guidelines for how to use UAS for inspections, while UTA will use its portion of the agreement to figure out the best ways of going about its mission of using UAS to perform remote sensing.
UTA will also use its portion of the agreement to take high high-definition photos while conducting pavement forensics at the U.S. Highway 67 project site in Cleburne and at U.S. Highway 82 near Bell in Fannin County.
