Department of Labor Drone-Based Roof Inspections – Various U.S. Locations
Client
- U.S. Department Of Labor
Project Value 
$100 million+
Market
Federal Infrastructure
Services
Engineering
Over the last decade, Parsons has supported the Department of Labor’s Job Corps architecture and engineer design and construction management services at 121 Job Corps Centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The Job Corps is the largest residential career training program in the United States and has been operating for over 50 years. The program helps eligible young people ages 16 through 24 complete their high school education, trains them for meaningful careers, and assists them with obtaining employment. Within the Job Corps’ Division of Facilities and Assessment Management program, Parsons has implemented visual and thermal drone-based sensors for roof inspections and provided guidance on modernizing and expanding educational facilities nationwide.
Take To The Sky
Throughout the years, our teams have tested and implemented various technological capabilities to include exterior models of each Job Corp facility. This has included drone-based roof inspections using thermal and high-resolution day-time imagery and laser scanning of interior structures for construction planning. Our drones provided detailed imagery for sloped roofs that cannot be safely accessed in person and also valuable infrared (IR) data to help locate potential roof leaks on flat roofs. All of this data helped provide the Department of Labor with informed recommendations for targeted repairs versus replacements to improve quality of life.
Project Scope And Overview
The drone-based inspection was introduced to the program as a more efficient way to document existing conditions, especially when commercially available satellite imagery could not provide the same level of resolution or up-to-date depictions of the centers. Drone captured photos are all GPS tagged and site photos are built into models for inspectors to note areas on concerns, estimate repair areas, and deliver change-over-time capabilities when the next drone inspection occurs. The team, when requested, also provided presentations and demonstrations to students and staff at the centers about use cases of drone technology.
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- An aerial view of Oneonta Job Corps Center in New York.
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- An aerial view of Paul Simon Chicago Job Corps Center in Chicago, Illinois.
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- The warmer area, indicated by the brighter colors, is a potential sign of an issue on the roof, which could be caused by moisture underneath the roofing membrane. Inspectors are able to more quickly assess the general condition of each roof without having to climb each one.
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- An aerial view of a roof at the San Jose Job Corps Center in San Jose, California.
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- Drones augment traditional roof inspection techniques. Here, a roof inspector is walking with the drone thermal camera to examine the areas of interest up-close.
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- A recent point cloud of the Woodstock Job Corps Center from our drone team roof inspection.
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- An aerial view of New Haven Job Corps Center in New Haven, Connecticut.
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- Parsons laser scanning team can capture a reality model of the facilities to do very accurate measurements of facilities. The laser scans can be loaded into architectural software for creating as-builts and visualizing remodeling plans.
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- A Parsons drone pilot inspects a DOL facilities roof. The pilot focuses on both the live feed and on the drone while the visual observer scans the airspace and ensures that the drone does not get too close to fixed objects.
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- A Parsons pilot assesses flat roofs using the drone mounted thermal imager. The controller provides a live-feed and gives the pilot the ability to inspect areas of interests in greater detail.
Our Drone Inspection Expertise
Our talented team of architects, engineers, drafters, IT professionals, and innovators have sought to bring technological solutions to provide maintenance plans and cost-effective recommendations to the Job Corps program. Many of the educational facilities are older and have unique challenges at each location, so the teams at Parsons have used creative problem-solving to provide solutions to each challenge, including the use of 3D modeling technologies. We use drones to manage risk during inspections, and by using increasingly autonomous drones, thermal sensors, and zooming cameras, we perform inspections both up close and from a distance.
Learn More
The use of drones is taking off—and for good reason. Drones’—also called Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS)—are a boon to all industries benefiting from remote sensing technologies. Drone-mounted sensors help save time, cut costs, and improve safety, especially during inspections. Moreover, sUAS capture imagery and other types of data are invaluable to design, planning, and project management. Learn more.
