Call them drones or UAS’s –
either way they are changing
the face of transportation

An idea submitted into the ITD innovation funnel early in 2014 is now coming to fruition, but possible uses for UAS’s (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) — commonly called “drones” — have greatly expanded in that time.

This year’s Leadership Summit proved to be a catalyst for spearheading the UAS program at ITD. The UAS Committee formed this spring due to the and covers a wide range of ITD program disciplines. Everyone has a specific and meaningful contribution to the whole committee, which was used to help problem solve for all of ITD.

The initial thought, back in 2014, of using drones for bridge inspections, has morphed into traffic monitoring, planning and surveying, environmental documentation, and even avalanche monitoring. They greatly enhance the safety of the individual worker by removing our workers from the roadside and the edge of the bridge, and can accomplish necessary tasks in a fraction of the time.

(“Safety is the very first item in ITD’s mission statement, so it is only right that safety is the biggest benefit,” said James Bennett, an employee in District 4’s Design/ Construction team who is a member of the UAS committee at the recent Leadership Summit.

Bennett explained that the group’s mission statement was to MORE safely, MORE responsively, and MORE efficiently use remote sensor abilities in support of ITD’s operations, design, construction, and public information programs by capturing diverse data sets for meaningful information generation.

It was recently used to look at the feasibility of the proposed new location for the District 4 headquarters at the Interstate 84/US-93 Interchange near Twin Falls. The UAS took just five hours to survey the 108-acre site (only 3-4 acres are need for the main building and attached maintenance yard) and get the data points needed to virtually smooth the terrain and create a computerized model of the location. In two hours in the air above the interchange, the UAS took more than 1,750 high-definition photos to be used by planners and designers.
  
In the old days, these tasks would have taken days or even weeks to complete.

Bridge inspections are still a common use for drone technology, but a recent survey by AASHTO showed that 35 state departments of transportation currently employ drone technology for transportation-related pursuits.

ITD has two state-owned drones authorized for departmental use – one in Aeronautics and the other owned by the department’s videography unit.

“ITD needs to bridge evolving industry gaps and embrace an advanced comprehensive method of data collection that is flexible, accurate, safe, and efficient – a method that is in alignment with public and organizational perceptions and concerns,” explained Bennett, which is what the UAS Committee jointly defined as the current problem needing to be addressed. 

VIDEO: Watch D4's James Bennett give a brief intro to UAS at the recent Leadership Summit.

Postscipt: ITD Chief Deputy Scott Stokes recommended the UAS Committee remain intact and serve as an advisory board to the department on further UAS integration into ITD's work processes. One of the first tasks of the group this fall/winter will be to draft an administrative policy that details purpose, legal authority, and policies.


Published 11-02-18