Skytec & TVA: Collaborating to Simplify & Improve Tower Inspections

Most of us never stop to consider those extremely tall towers along the side of roads or soaring above our heads in open spaces. But for organizations like Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), those towers are strategic — and they require regular upkeep and inspections.

Now imagine this: Inspecting those towers typically requires a person to make the sometimes harrowing climb to the top or hang from the side of a helicopter. Once there, he or she makes a visual inspection, noting any oddities or the need for repair, along with capturing measurements required for data analytics.
 

It can be a long and tedious process with a high danger factor, which is why TVA is consistently looking for ways to implement new inspection strategies and solutions. As part of that continual process improvement, TVA recently partnered with Skytec to inspect a tower on Raccoon Mountain using Unmanned Aerial Systems and cutting-edge remote sensing technology.

What Was Involved
The hydroelectric facility on Raccoon Mountain is TVA’s largest. There, water is pumped to the reservoir on the top of the mountain and used to generate electricity for the TVA system as needed.

Surrounding the facility are a number of communication microwave towers, which usually require human power to inspect and ensure they’re in working order. When a tower was recently due for inspection, TVA instead turned to Skytec’s innovative technologies to both inspect the tower and conduct comprehensive mapping and 3D imaging.

“This tower is a critical communication piece for the system,” says Andy Carroll, CTO of Skytec. “Traditionally when you have to do an inspection, a person would have to scale the tower, which is over 200 feet tall. Our goal was to capture high-resolution information using our unmanned aerial system, removing the risk of sending someone up from the inspection process.”

A Simplified, Enhanced Process
In a short series of 10 to 20 minute flights, Skytec was able to achieve two goals — inspecting the tower and gathering mapping data to create a 3D image of the structure.

“We were able to provide TVA a process that would be faster, safer, and create more data that they can use in all sorts of applications, whether engineering, mapping, or inventory,” Carroll says. “Our unmanned technology was able to check all those boxes and deliver that to them. TVA is taking the lead as a utility to begin testing this technology.”

The ultimate result? A safer process for all involved that takes much of the danger and guesswork out of the equation.

“During this project, we used a powerful optical inspection payload that allowed us to zoom in from 50 to 75 feet out to see serial numbers and threads on bolts and whether there were pins in place,” Carroll says. “This view rivals what could be seen by the naked eye.”

“From there, we used a combination of a photogrammetric point cloud and LiDAR remote sensing technology to create a three-dimensional model of the structure. Overall, the process was much safer — with better data, more efficiency, and cost savings.”

Skytec looks forward to continuing to collaborate with organizations like TVA to employ the latest techniques and technology to ensure inspections of the future are completed with cutting edge technology and produce the best results, all in the name of safety.

We’re using LiDAR to revolutionize the view. To learn more or to put our technologies into action for your company, contact us today.