University News Last updated 26 October
Bridge inspections can cost up to £25,000 and take five days or more - research at Birmingham City University (BCU) is investigating how drones, advanced sensing and artificial intelligence could significantly reduce the time, staffing and specialist equipment required.
The research forms part of STRUCTURE, a €13.7 million international project involving 21 partners across the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Türkiye.
BCU is working with British drone technology company Evolve Dynamics and National Highways to investigate how drones equipped with advanced sensors can identify defects in masonry structures and provide engineers with better data to inform maintenance decisions.
Masonry structures account for around 40% of the UK's bridge stock, including some 18,000 bridges on the rail network alone.
Conventional inspections can require teams of up to 10 people, specialist access equipment such as cranes and cherry pickers, and traffic management.
A single inspection day can cost up to £25,000, depending on the structure, while a full inspection can take at least five working days. Preparation and equipment set-up can also triple the overall duration.
The potential savings across the UK's ageing bridge infrastructure are therefore significant.
As part of STRUCTURE, Evolve Dynamics' uncrewed aerial system, WOLFE, will be equipped with advanced sensor payloads to capture detailed data from masonry structures remotely.
BCU researchers will apply algorithms and AI-driven analysis to the data, including developing automated crack detection and predictive maintenance tools. The team will also co-develop a digital twin platform that brings inspection results together to support maintenance decisions.
National Highways will provide access to structures for testing and validation in real-world conditions.
Professor Saeed Talebi, Professor of Digital Built Environment at BCU, said: “We have been developing digital approaches to bridge inspection that bring together advanced sensing, data analytics and artificial intelligence.
“STRUCTURE allows us to take that research into real-world infrastructure and demonstrate what it can deliver at scale.
“The ambition is not simply to replace one inspection method with another. It is to give infrastructure owners better-quality evidence about the condition of their assets, so emerging defects can be identified earlier and maintenance can be planned more intelligently.
“Conventional inspection can be slow and expensive, particularly where specialist access equipment, large teams and traffic management are required.
“If drones and advanced sensing can collect the information engineers need without always requiring the same level of on-site resource, there is potential to make inspections significantly more efficient.
“That could mean fewer hours spent on site, less disruption to transport networks and better use of engineering resources, while still giving asset owners the evidence they need to make informed maintenance decisions.”
The project builds on BCU's established research into the digital inspection and management of critical infrastructure.
Previous research has demonstrated the potential for digital inspection to reduce the need for intrusive and potentially hazardous conventional inspection methods while providing engineers with more detailed data.
The STRUCTURE project forms part of BCU's wider research programme spanning the digital inspection and management of transportation, tunnelling and maritime infrastructure, bringing together autonomous systems and artificial intelligence to create live digital twins.
Pictured: Pensford Viaduct. Credit: National Highways.