Drones, or rather Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), have been used at Asfinag for a number of years for special activities. In the future, however, the unmanned mini-planes should cover a much larger range of tasks.

After a tender, a four-year framework agreement was recently concluded with the specialist company Bladescape Airborne Services, which makes it possible to intensify the use of drones. The future range of services will thus also include the areas of natural hazards, road safety in general, the documentation of construction progress as well as what is known as traffic and event management in the event of major accidents or traffic jams. The use of drones is now standard for bridges that are difficult to access. The pictures of the condition of a bridge obtained in this way would make it easier to plan any necessary rehabilitation measures.

"Our goal is to integrate this technology as a tool into our workflow in a sustainable, economical and operationally useful way," says Thomas Steinbrucker, who is responsible for the "Drone Project" at Asfinag. The use of this technology has several advantages: In addition to faster and better situation assessment and the time advantage, drones also contribute to improving occupational safety.