Engineers Use Drone to Create 3D Model of Bridge Build

Brief

Alessandro Fascett of University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering is spearheading a project to create a digital and historical account of construction of the new Fern Hollow Bridge. Using a National Science Foundation grant, the team will use a drone to collect photos for 11.5 minutes every two weeks to create a 3D model, thought to be the first of its kind in the US.

Insight

Alessandro Fascetti didn’t know his career as a professor of civil and environmental engineering would lead to him to become a certified industrial drone pilot, but that has become a regular part of his job.

Mr. Fascetti, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, is part of a team preparing a digital model and history of the construction of the new Fern Hollow Bridge. The project involves piloting a hexacopter drone for 11½ minutes every two weeks to record photo and laser images of the progress of construction, about 170 million pieces of information each week.

The project received a $141,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create the digital model, believed to be the first of its kind in the country. Mr. Fascetti’s team is following the emergency replacement of the bridge after the previous structure collapsed in January.

The project is part of the work of the Impactful Resilient Infrastructure Science and Engineering consortium, where the university works with private contractors and government transportation officials to develop new construction practices and solve problems. The goal is to have a kind of three-dimensional blueprint available over the life of the new structure so that engineers can look back at the construction to see how the project progressed and what might have allowed future problems to develop.

“I don’t think anyone has done this on the construction of a bridge before,” Mr. Fascetti said. “We don’t even see all of the benefits right now.”