USE OF RPAS (DRONES) FOR OLD BRIDGES INSPECTION: APPLICATION ON PONTE OLVEIRA BRIDGE

The use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), better known as drones, has spread with multiple and very diverse applications in recent years. It includes architectural heritage elements inspections, singular constructions inspections, and old structures inspections. This article is based on a detailed inspection of a 16th-century bridge, retrofitted to support current road traffic sixty years ago. This inspection was exclusively experimental. With its completion and with the information obtained, we got enough information to assess whether the aircraft can be useful for carrying out these works. We must consider that these works are currently carried out by qualified personnel, requiring transportation and installation of cumbersome auxiliary means and a high economic and time investment, especially in the careful planning of the works. Similarly, we focus on health and safety workers and their risk reduction. We must consider safety and risk reduction towards the monument to be inspected, and we must also consider risk reduction for the safety and health of the workers who inspect the monument.