UAVs: Beyond Pretty Pictures; A Case Study in Analyzing the Integrity of UAV-Derived Data for Full-Scale Railroad Infrastructure Design
(Room 200 E)
24 Sep 19
9:30 AM
-
10:00 AM
Tracks:
AREMA Technical Sessions By Date- Engineering Services, AREMA Technical Sessions By Functional Group- Engineering Services, Technical Sessions By Day- Tuesday
UAS technology, commonly known as drone-based technology, is one of the fastest moving trends in the railroad industry and for good reason. According to the AAR, North American freight railroads invested more than $100 billion USD in infrastructure, equipment, and technology since 2014. Drones mitigate this expense by providing better information with far less impact on railroad operations than legacy methods. This paper is a case study that shows how drone-derived data facilitates better infrastructure design and more informed capital investment decisions. In this case-study, Norfolk Southern's professional design engineers used aerial drone technology to design a five-mile long infrastructure project on Norfolk Southern's Pocahontas Division. This infrastructure project included: • Large earth cuts/fills in highly wooded areas • Fifteen or more culvert replacements or extensions • Earth retention structures • A bridge replacement • Real estate involvement • Environmental permitting challenges Throughout the entire design phase of the project, our team saw value-added benefits from using the drone-based data. This paper describes and quantifies these benefits through two primary focuses: • Comparing photogrammetry against traditional survey methods (total station and GPS). • Comparing several leading drone mapping software platforms against one another, including Pix4D, DroneDeploy, OpenDroneMap, Autodesk ReCap, Agisoft PhotoScan and Bentley Context Capture. After this full analysis, our team will provide lessons learned and best practices. It will describe which professional drone technologies and software are the most effective in different situations, and where traditional surveying methods are still required. This is just the beginning of UAS technology's capabilities. In presenting this paper, our team hopes to provide methods and inspiration for others in the industry to exponentially grow. *Missed this Session or want to view it again? Stop by the VirtualAREMA kiosk located in the Registration area to purchase this product today!