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Specialist UAV services for the Rail Industry & Railway infrastructure
Cole Aero provide the rail industry with an extensive range of mapping and inspection services both in the mainline network setting, private and heritage railway sectors.
Utilising the most up to date technologies available, it is possible to gather data with more accuracy and detail whilst also faster than ever before whilst reducing risk and requirements for costly and interruptive track possessions in many circumstances.
From routine inspections of infrastructure and lineside items of interest, planning of new or renewal of existing railway route rework to emergency response and scene mapping Cole Aero provide support to the rail industry often integrating with in house drone teams to provide enhanced services or specialist payload equipment. Utilising AI enabled equipment for in depth real time identification of defects even before human review and RTK guidance for high accuracy our data collection services provide a comprehensive overview.
Track & Infrastructure Inspection
Cole Aero provide an extensive inspection service for the Rail industry, enabling planning teams and experts to maintain the rail network or heritage railway to the highest standards, often faster, more cost effectively and with less impact than traditional methods.
Inspection work includes but is not limited to:
- Hi resolution imagery of track work, including rail, sleeper, ballast and point work.
- LiDAR (or combined with Photogrammetry / gaussian splatting) 3D surveys and mapping of track bed, infrastructure, railway carrying structures, buildings and rail corridors.
- Monitoring ballast condition, identifying drainage issues & vegetation encroachment.
- Embankment monitoring for movement or erosion.
- Inspection of overhead electrical equipment, catenary and signal / telephony equipment and safety equipment inclding thermal inspection and hi resolution camera equipment.
Bridge, tunnel and structure Inspection
Cole Aero's range of industry leading cameras and sensor equipment enable high accuracy inspection work of not just the rail and track bead infrastructure but also supporting and trackside structures. With LiDAR, Thermal/FLIR cameras, hi-resolution full frame and 200x zoom cameras, laser range finders, RTK guidance with ground control points and more carried as standard by all operators, Cole Aero are well equipped to provide highly accurate survey data for all types of structure.
Services include:
- Bridge and tunnel condition inspections.
- Detection of moisture ingress or electrical faults with thermal imagery.
- Tunnel portal inspections.
- Retaining wall inspections.
- Crack identification and measuring/monitoring.
- Production of detailed highly accurate 3D digital twins.
Construction and engineering
Cole Aero services are also suited to large or small scale engineering and construction projects.
These services include:
- weekly progress reporting with visual images including repeat inspections of exactly the same point using RTK guidance and AI enabled drones or 3D mapping.
- Earthwork volume calculations and quantity surveys of stockpiles.
- cut and fill analysis.
- Orthomosaic mapping & Digital Terrain Models.
- BIM & CAD Compatible datasets.
- LiDAR Mapping of Overhead line equipment clearance to vegetation and assessment of lineside hazards such as falling trees.
Specialist Inspections
Cole Aero provide specialist inspections for uses including the following applications:
Thermal Imagery for:
- Overhead electrical equipment inspection.
- Substation and electrical defects.
- Overheating of stationary equipment.
- Building heat loss.
Asset management photography / 3D Mapping:
- Signal gantries, overhead line masts, culverts, fencing and security, stations and station buildings, platforms and public access ways, drainage systems.
Emergency response
Cole Aero provide emergency response services for natural and accident site management.
This can be in the form of high accuracy mapping and collecting images from a wide range of angles.
From natural storm damage assessment such as falling trees, landslides, washouts or structural damage to mapping minor or major incident scenes and planning access routes for heavy recovery support Cole Aero provide services to suit.
