UAV-driven approach for assisting structural health monitoring of port infrastructure

Port engineering planning and management seek to confront challenges affecting the functional and structural capacity of port systems. To achieve this, design, maintenance, and rehabilitation strategies should be enhanced by dynamic approaches that help minimize the impacts of potential degradation due to climate change, natural hazards and aging of port infrastructure. Introducing Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) practices to asset management frameworks can improve port sustainability and resilience. Recently, new aspects for assisting SHM approaches with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications have emerged. Therefore, the present research is focused on investigating the capabilities of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) monitoring program to advance current SHM practices for port infrastructure. For this purpose, four in-situ inspections were conducted by the Laboratory of Harbour Works (LHW) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) at a Greek port in central-eastern Greece, namely Lavrio port. Data analysis was performed with Close Range Photogrammetry (CRP) methods and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. The overall research showed that the UAV-driven SHM supports the condition assessment of port infrastructure, thus assisting practices for smart maintenance.