Construction Demathieu Bard (CDB)

Future Ready Challenge

Infrastructure construction projects are often expansive, and even with advancements in 3D rendering it can be extremely difficult to properly document sites and progress. In addition, the work done by the construction industry often requires hands-on work, which means that some tasks can be hazardous for the crew, even when proper safety precautions are taken.

One area of technological innovation is creating big changes in the construction industry: Remotely Piloted Aircraft or drones. Increasingly, this technology has shown growing practicality for the construction industry by improving safety, reducing costs, and boosting efficiency.

R & D Collaboration

In September 2020, Construction Demathieu Bard (CDB) Inc began work to rehabilitate the Rainbow Bridge, which spans the US-Canada border between Niagara Falls, NY and Niagara Falls, Ontario. To explore the potential of RPAs, CDB contacted the Unmanned and Remote Sensing Innovation Centre (URSIC) at Mohawk College and asked them to document the work using drone imaging technology as part of a proof-of-concept demonstration.

Innovative Results

For this project to be a success and provide CDB with the requested data, the URSIC team needed to navigate the process required to fly a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) in restricted airspace and demonstrate the technical skill required to complete the flight.

Aerial activity in Niagara Falls is restricted, and the Rainbow Bridge project had the added complexity of being located over an international border. Since URSIC pilots are only licensed to fly in Canadian airspace, careful flight planning and control measures were put in place to ensure the RPA did not stray over the border.  Before beginning any field work, the URSIC team worked with multiple government agencies, private companies, and other partners to secure the appropriate permits and clearances. In the process of applying for the necessary permits, the team also connected with staff at the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission and agreed to demonstrate some practical applications of current Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) technology for them as well.

With CDB, Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, and other industry partners in attendance for the flight, the team completed their final notifications to multiple agencies and briefed the managers of all air clubs in the area before launching the RPAs, an M210 equipped with Z30 and XT2 cameras and a Phantom 4 Pro.

The aerial videography produced stunning footage for CDB to showcase the upgrades to the Rainbow Bridge. During the flight, the team also demonstrated additional practical applications of RPAS technology. The URSIC team completed a thorough inspection of the underside of the bridge deck within Canadian airspace on both the north and south sides of the bridge, providing the data files to CDB.

The collaboration demonstrated the versatility of RPAs for the construction industry – in addition to providing excellent aerial footage, completing the bridge inspection remotely showed the tremendous utility of RPAs within the construction industry.

Typical procedures for inspecting the underside of a bridge deck require lane closures and suspending inspectors from a specialized snooper truck below the deck of the bridge, putting crew members in potentially hazardous situations. Using RPAS mounted technology- permits the pilot to capture the same footage from the safety of solid ground.

The success of this project influenced CDB to develop their own drone program, including hiring a member of the Mohawk research team to support launching it.

“It was great to collaborate with Mohawk College on this practical demonstration of drone technology on one of CDB’s active construction projects,” said Stephan Steiner, Vice-President, Ontario. “We look forward to a future partnership with Mohawk to combine construction industry practicality and academic research when the next opportunity arises.”