Exploring the Potential Utility of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Practical Bridge Inspection in Louisiana

¹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504
² Department of Physics, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA 70504

^* Corresponding author: ipd4586@louisiana.edu

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), especially those allowing programmed flight paths, with stops and hovering, e.g. the quad and hex rotor drones, have gathered attention in recently for as their potential use in certain envisioned applications that may be difficult, expensive, or dangerous to do manually. One poignant use case important to the State of Louisiana is that of bridge inspection. In the Lafayette District of LADOTD alone, more than 1600 bridges require annual inspection. In this paper, considerations and criteria important UAV-based bridge inspection in Louisiana are researched and analyzed; experiments with actual UAVs are conducted, and findings provide insight into the problem and potential solutions. The conclusion recommends further research items.