Gabriel Palacios Hernández
Prevention officer and Head of Drone Operations
Sacyr always strives to undertake our projects with prevention and safety as primary objectives. In pursuit of this improvement, we decided to become drone operators in February 2017, as we believed that the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) (more commonly known as drones) would yield significant benefits, providing greater agility and safety in fieldwork.
In addition to reducing risks in our sector, they also aid production, becoming smaller, more manageable, resistant to weather conditions, and equipped with features that make their flights more efficient and faster.
Drones have countless applications, with new ones emerging daily, but the challenge lies in discovering these uses because the technology is already here, waiting to be applied.
Infrastructure inspection
In infrastructure inspection, RPAS can perform reviews without requiring a worker to be suspended by a lifeline on a slope or in a basket beneath the deck of a bridge. The risks are substantially lower because the worker is not exposed, and work efficiency is much higher because the task is completed in less time.
The use of RPAS is now widespread in surveying, using photogrammetry to obtain 3D models of terrain and orthophotos, which are high-resolution photographs obtained from the combination of partial photos in which distances, areas, and volumes can be measured with great precision.
Replacing operators with RPAS in confined spaces, inspecting high-voltage towers or wind turbines, and using underwater RPAS for inspecting treatment plants or collectors are tasks already being performed, significantly reducing risks.
It is important to consider that drones have their own usage risks, which, thanks to aviation regulations and their high safety standards, are closely monitored to prevent, primarily, the uncontrolled fall of these devices on people or material goods.
Like any flying device, it is susceptible to ceasing flight in an unplanned manner, becoming a weight that, aided by the speed it acquires in the fall, can be fatal. The smallest professional drones weigh around one kilogram, so we can imagine what they can become in free fall.
Additionally, RPAS are devices with propellers, batteries that could ignite, and are powered by electricity in most cases. All of this can lead to accidents for the people who operate them.
Photogrammetry
In what activities can we use drones within our sector?
- Photogrammetry work for topographic surveying: Photogrammetry has transformed the way surveyors work. Instead of traversing the terrain to be "surveyed," obtaining the different points, now the drone performs that work for them. The arrival of drones with integrated RTK systems has further reduced the need for obtaining control points.
- Building inspection or construction monitoring: The activity of "construction monitoring" through aerial images and videos is increasingly in demand. It is the best viewpoint to see the progress of the work.
- Inspection of structures in civil works: If we use the drone to approach the structure to be inspected, being able to capture images or videos, we avoid placing the worker in those areas and the use of costly auxiliary means.
- High-altitude inspection of high-voltage towers: Traditionally, this activity has been carried out by the worker ascending the tower itself, from an aerial lift, or from a helicopter, which is positioned at the top. Drones clearly avoid putting the worker at risk of falling from height and at risk of electrocution, among others, incorporating RGB cameras with powerful zooms or with thermographic cameras.
- Confined space inspection: There are already drones of minuscule dimensions that do not suffer damage during their impact in narrow areas, with high-quality television cameras, that can replace operators in these tasks.
