The Hon Sam Farraway, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads (NSW), Media Release, 27 June 2022.
Maintaining the state’s transport network will be safer, less disruptive and more cost effective, thanks to new cutting edge drone technology.
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said Transport for NSW is the first government agency in Australia to secure the next generation technology as part of its first dedicated bridge drone inspection program that will revolutionise how assets are maintained across the network.
“Transport for NSW is responsible for maintaining thousands of kilometres of regional roads and more than 5000 country bridges, and we are always looking at ways to make the maintenance process safer and more efficient,” Mr Farraway said.
“The new drones will be a major driver in achieving this, with the use of six 4K cameras that build three dimensional maps of their surroundings by taking about 1.3 trillion calculations per minute.
“This allows maintenance crews to inspect the network more comprehensively, which at times can be dangerous and disruptive to the network.
“Recent technological developments have allowed the drones to carry out inspections in places previously too difficult to access, such as under bridges and in confined spaces.
“They can autonomously fly under bridges and in to restricted spaces, which not only is safer for our maintenance crews, but also increases productivity and ultimately reduces costs.
“The NSW Government is replacing ageing timber bridges, and reducing councils’ maintenance backlog through the $500 million Fixing Country Bridges program.
“Deteriorating bridges can disrupt the state’s supply chains if they can no longer be used by heavy vehicles, so anything we can do to make bridge inspections more efficient will speed up the repair process and support our freight industry.”
Over the past four years, Transport for NSW has collaborated with major players in the field of autonomous and artificial intelligent drones, including the CSIRO, Emesent and Skydio.
Drones are an integral part of the Future Transport Technology Roadmap 2021-2024, providing a blueprint for how Transport for NSW is using technology and innovation to improve transport over the next three years.
