University of Otago campus development division director David Perry said the recent use of a drone sped up the task of inspecting the university’s eight-storey Adams Building, near Frederick St, in Dunedin.
Inspecting the building did not have to involve hiring two cranes for two days, blocking access to car parks around the building, Mr Perry said.
The new approach was safer, less disruptive, less time-consuming and more cost-effective.
That crane work would probably have been done over a weekend. Instead, civil engineering and infrastructure consulting firm WSP Opus was on-site for about six hours during a work day and only blocked off a small area for the drone’s landing pad, while the structural engineer kept his feet on the ground.
Standing side-by-side, intermediate engineer and drone pilot Scott Kvick followed instructions from senior structural engineer Dave Ellis as he controlled the drone’s camera while watching a screen showing images from the camera.
Principal structural engineer Andrew Blacker said he had done surveys of very large buildings from a crane, but "seeing this now, I could easily use a drone to do it cheaper and get to more places".
