From Aerial Photography to 3-Dimensional Inspection of Bridges

Bridges take an exceptional key role in our infrastructure system. In regard to the inexorable progress of ageing respectively deterioration of our existing bridges and the simultaneously continuous increasing volume of traffic the inspectionand monitoring plays an increasingly important role in providing a safe infrastructure system. Conventional inspections of bridges are based on intensive visual investigations performed by special trained proof engineers. These inspections are quiet complex. Data capturing processes and the documentations of inspection result are time consuming, often incomplete, not time referenced or not directly referenced to the location on the structure. This paper presents an aerial image based approach using professional unmanned aerial system (UAS) for a thorough inspection for an efficient monitoring of bridges.