Transportation
To Care for Aging Bridges, Minnesota Taps the Power of Drones
To ward off infrastructure disaster, state engineers are experimenting with a new technology.
How do you inspect a bridge for signs of dangerous deterioration? It’s not easy. You’d either need to lower yourself on rope over the guard rails, or use specialized equipment like a “snooper”—a heavy-duty truck with a long, extending arm. Those can set back transportation departments as much as $1 million each.