Bridge soffits — the underside of the deck — are typically inaccessible without a mobile platform or bridge inspection unit. Our drones capture the full soffit, piers, abutments, parapets, and expansion joints in a single pass, without lane closures, without access equipment, and with every identified defect GPS-tagged and mapped in an annotated condition report.
The underside of a bridge deck — the soffit — is typically inaccessible without a mobile platform or bridge inspection unit. Our drones capture the full soffit, piers, abutments, expansion joints, and bearings in a single pass, with no lane closures and no access equipment. What we detect: concrete spalling and cracking, reinforcement corrosion, water staining, bearing deterioration, scour damage to piers and abutments, joint failure, and drainage issues.
Thermal imaging identifies delaminated areas across the full bridge deck surface without manual contact. The chain drag test — the traditional alternative — is labour-intensive and prone to inconsistency. A thermal drone pass covers the entire deck in a fraction of the time and delivers a georeferenced map of delaminated zones, alongside a visual inspection of the full structure for spalling, cracking, corrosion, joint failure, and vegetation growth.
A kilometre-long orthophoto is only useful if defects can be located precisely in the field. EWD overlays the client's own chainage drawings onto every orthophoto and 3D model, and marks unique features — bridges, walls, transitions — so every defect can be expressed as a distance from a known reference point. Field crews can locate and act on findings without guesswork. This is standard practice for causeways, coastal roads on embankments, and any linear structure where precise location matters.
Oblique flight paths keep the drone clear of the road surface throughout — no lane closures, no traffic management, no disruption to road users. For structures used by the public, all processed deliverables are anonymised before delivery: faces and number plates are removed and original raw captures deleted. No identifiable personal data is contained in the final output.
Complex surveys and inspections require more than just a pilot. Our engineers can help you scope your requirements and indentify the right approach.
Oblique flight paths keep the drone clear of the road surface throughout. Traffic and pedestrians flow normally with no disruption at any point during the inspection.
The soffit and all bridge faces are captured without any access equipment. No mobile platforms, no bridge inspection units, no workers at height or in water.
Every identified defect is GPS-tagged and mapped on an annotated condition report. Maintenance teams can locate faults precisely without a return site visit for location finding.
For causeways and linear structures, EWD overlays client chainage drawings on all deliverables. Every defect is expressed as a distance from a known reference point — field crews can act without guesswork.
A thermal drone pass identifies delaminated deck areas across the full bridge surface — more reliable and far faster than the chain drag test, with a georeferenced output map.
For structures used by the public, all processed deliverables are anonymised before delivery. Faces and number plates are removed and raw captures deleted.
The deck soffit, piers, abutments, parapets, and expansion joints are all captured in a single pass — without mobile platforms, lane closures, or scaffolding. What we detect: concrete spalling, cracking, and delamination; reinforcement corrosion and water staining; bearing deterioration; scour damage to piers and abutments; joint failure; and drainage issues.
For long linear structures — causeways, coastal embankments, tidal crossings — a 3D model or orthophoto is only useful if every defect can be located precisely in the field. EWD overlays client chainage drawings on all deliverables so every defect is expressed as a distance from a known reference point. Tidal structures are captured at low tide — water distorts photogrammetric data and obscures the base of the structure. All processed deliverables are GDPR-anonymised before delivery.
Drone bridge inspection case study — using a drone to conduct a detailed inspection of a 350-metre pedestrian bridge with an intricate cable-truss design that makes thorough manual inspection difficult.
Engineers With Drones surveyed four historic stone causeways in west Galway using photogrammetry to create high-resolution 3D models and technical deliverables.
