Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/487468
The team opted to use the drone as engineering issues, such as river crossings and other water course crossings, could not be viewed from Google Earth or from the highways Surveying with altitude • Preparations for a new 22km pipeline in the Yorkshire Dales National Park are under way, but how did the project team over- come surveillance chal- lenges? T hey may once have been the preserve of the mili- tary, but Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs), or drones as they are oen referred to, have become one of the most intrigu- ing innovations to emerge in recent times. For the utility sector, the potential for drone technology to provide new levels of effec- tiveness and efficiency in land- scape and utility system surveil- lance is immense. Aerial imaging Small drones are able to fly at low altitude and offer a highly efficient and effective solution for capturing precise images and data. Drone technology is cur- rently being used to great effect by Morrison Utility Services (MUS) in support of its early start AMP6 programme with Yorkshire Water. The team recently opted for UAV technol- ogy to provide safe and cost- effective aerial imaging and inspection capability for the investigation and design of a new 22km pipeline in Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Terrain Analysis The new pipeline will be used to transfer 500m 3 of water a day from two new pumping stations, following the decommissioning and closure of the Yorkshire Water's West Stonesdale Water projects specs • Carry out a pre-construction site survey for a 2km pipeline in Swaledale, North Yorkshire • Trial the potential use of new drone technology for aerial imaging on the project ONSITE PrE-CoNSTruCTioN SurvEYiNG Treatment Works in the Swaledale valley. Investigating private land can be a drawn out and pains- taking process that invariably involves lengthy negotiation periods with land owners, ten- ants and agents. The notional route presented the project team with a number of engineering issues. These included four crossings of the River Swale and 13 crossings of other water courses, none of which could be viewed from either Google Earth, due to poor image quality, or from the high- ways which were located too far away. However, with the majority of the route passing within pri- vate land close to the villages of Healaugh, Gunnerside and Thwaite, the deployment of the drone has delivered signifi- cant investigation and design benefits. Friend or foe? As well as maximising imaging potential, the datasets that can be extracted from UAVs include areas such as terrain slope, aspect and ruggedness grids – all very useful for visualising and analysing the physical landscape. Photo tiles of the entire route are also compatible with Google Maps for ease of viewing. Flight plans can also be pro- grammed to repeat any number of times, enabling accurate techknow • A heavy lift octocopter platform capable of flying for up to 25 minutes • Capacity to fly up to 1km at a time from vertical lift off and up to 500m elevation • Advanced vibration dampening for clear HD footage • First Person view (FPv) camera mounted on the front feeds back live images and telemetry information (eg speed, altitude) • Sensors mounted to the underside of the craft return a live feed back to the operator who has full control of the sensor neeD to know 1 investigating private land can be a drawn out process, involving lengthy negotiation periods with land owners, tenants and agents 2 The technology investigation and design of a new 22km pipeline in Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park the VerDIct • The use of the uAvs has provided the MuS Yorkshire Water contract team with a number of tangible advantages. MuS sees strong potential for the use of uAvs during the investigation and design processes across the full spectrum of utility infrastructure schemes. 10 WET NEWS APriL 2015 results of the trial suggests that drone technology can play an influential and beneficial role in projects