The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has published new guidelines that address the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems or UAS – also known as drones – to conduct bridge inspections; specifically to ensure the quality and consistency of element-level bridge data collected by drones.
[Above image by AASHTO]
AASHTO noted that drones are increasingly being used to supplement bridge inspection efforts due to their ability to collect visual information in areas that are challenging to access safely and economically.
As a result, the new guidelines provide information and best practices for developing UAS-based bridge inspection programs and are intended for use by state departments of transportation, bridge owner agencies, and other organizations.
Topics covered by these new guidelines include:
- Organizational Structure and Workflow;
- UAS Airframe Selection Considerations;
- UAS Personnel Training Recommendations;
- UAS Bridge Inspection Methodology; and
- IT Infrastructure and Data Storage.
To order a copy of the guidelines, visit the AASHTO Store online at store.transportation.org, and search by the publication’s item code, GUAS-1, or click here for a direct webpage link to
AASHTO added that information contained in these guidelines is designed to supplement current bridge inspection practices as detailed in the following two AASHTO manuals: The Manual For Bridge Evaluation, 3rd Edition (Item Code: MBE-3-M/Published: 2018) and the Manual For Bridge Element Inspection, 2nd Edition (Item Code: MBEI-2-M/Published: 2019).
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