Courtesy Photo | Daniel Salto, geographer and uncrewed aircraft system pilot, Fort Worth District, U.S....... read more read more
The Fort Sill Resident Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, enlisted support from the USACE, Fort Worth District, USACE to inspect roofs using an uncrewed aircraft system at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, June 2-3.
The Fort Worth District’s Geospatial Section inspected 12 roofs and structures during their trip to Fort Sill.
The two-man team saved significant time and resources for the Resident Office said Gary Holt, project manager, Tulsa District Resident Office, USACE.
“In two days, they were able to inspect the same number of roofs a person with a ladder and safety gear would be able to do in about a week or more,” said Holt. “That saved us time and resources in terms of gaining access to buildings and providing an escort to each location.”
Resident offices support roof and structural inspections when installations make requests. These requests typically occur following inclement weather.
After a severe hailstorm at Fort Sill in 2023, the Tulsa District the resident office received a request to inspect more than 420 roofs and structures. The resident office contracted and completed those inspections, but the traditional inspection method takes longer, said Holt.
“If we had used a UAS at that time, we could have provided the installation with a faster picture of the damage and the command could more quickly request funding to address repairs,” said Holt. “The UAS teams also give us a better picture of the overall area so that contractors will have a better idea of potential costs when they’re bidding on a project. If a contractor doesn’t know if a particular risk exists, they’re going to factor that in that cost in so that they don’t lose money.”
Fort Worth District’s UAS pilots work in the Geospatial Section. Bryson Webber, section chief, Geospatial Section, Fort Worth District, said that inspections are one part of a larger Remote Sensing program.
“We do a lot more mapping and modeling and use the imagery from that to inspect items. So, it has a dual purpose,” said Webber.
Webber’s team has supported requests from other USACE districts, Army commands and federal agencies, including the Department of State.
In USACE geospatial sections support civil works, regulatory, and military programs, by providing expertise in mapping, data management and Geographic Information Systems.
They gather and process geographical and temporal data to develop and produce a common operating picture that informs users’ understanding of events at locations in time to aid decision making.
“We collect the data, we process it and then we put it onto a web platform, so that the non-technical people can also access it,” Webber said. “So, we don't limit it to just technical folks, because the technical folks aren't always the decision makers. We can expand it to more people and make it more useful.”
The Corps of Engineers requires its pilots complete training and certification established by the USACE Aviation Program Office. The APO serves as the central aviation authority for USACE, ensuring the safe, legal, and efficient operation of crewed and uncrewed aircraft systems.
In addition to USACE certification, Webber requires his pilots gain Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 license.
The FAA requires pilots who fly a UAS as part of their job obtain a Part 107 license.
Although not required for USACE pilots, Webber said he considers having both USACE and Part 107 certification as a best practice. Before joining the Fort Worth District in 2020, he worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he trained more than 100 pilots for their Wildlife Services program.
“Even though we had a really robust training program at USDA we also required the Part 107 license prior to the training program, because then we can focus on making sure the pilots are comfortable with flying and operating,” said Webber. “No matter how much training you give people, there’s always a learning curve, so we have them do some training on their own and have a 107 license.”
Webber said he’s working to promote data integration in his district and throughout USACE. A remote sensing mission might be requested for a survey or mapping but can be connected to bathymetry, which is the measure of the floor of oceans, seas and lakes, and the information can be vital to users in multiple functional areas.
“Survey data and the UAS work directly with bathymetry. The combined survey, bathymetry and UAS are all served out to the GIS users and CAD [computer aided design] users simultaneously without any data overlap, so that we have a holistic approach where we can say ‘What we do is useful to everyone, and it's all in one spot and accessible.’”
While it’s unlikely the UAS will replace the person with a ladder who climbs on a roof to perform inspections any time soon, the UAS can be a time and cost saving tool.
“Some of the other work we do, we save a lot of money and get additional information that we will never get by other means, like traditional surveys,” Webber said. “It’s a supplement for traditional surveys, not a replacement but we can get additional information that traditional surveys cannot give us.”
| Date Taken: | 06.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.30.2025 14:41 |
| Story ID: | 501901 |
| Location: | OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 68 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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