Gyeonggi-do Utilizes Drones for Large-Scale Hazardous Facility Safety Inspections

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will utilize drones for safety inspections of large or hazardous large-scale slopes and retaining wall facilities starting in October.

The province announced on the 16th that it plans to introduce safety inspection technology using information and communication technology (ICT) such as drones from October, based on a five-month public-private collaborative basic research conducted since the end of January to advance safety inspections.

Under the supervision of the Safety Management Office, the province conducted research applying drones and three-dimensional image analysis techniques to safety inspections and safety evaluations of large-scale slopes and retaining wall facilities within the province, comparing these with previous manpower-based safety inspections.

Additionally, to integrate the latest ICT with existing safety inspection technologies, the basic research was completed through consultation and participation of private experts in various fields such as drones, soil, aerial surveying, smart sensors, and software analysis.

Based on this, the province established safer and more effective inspection measures including ▲solutions to eliminate blind spots in inspections of large or highly hazardous slopes and retaining wall facilities that are difficult to access ▲introduction of safety inspection drones for investigating signs of rockfalls and collapse risks ▲application of three-dimensional image analysis techniques for safety evaluation and assessment of the applicability of time-series analysis ▲and measures to strengthen the capabilities of safety inspection officials.

This research was a basic study directly conducted by public officials aiming to strengthen safety inspections in Gyeonggi Province. Having confirmed the effectiveness of applying various new technologies such as drones in the field of safety inspections, the province plans to continue research to improve safety inspection technologies through public-private collaboration in the future.