McLaren Speaking at ASBPA
2021 National Coastal Conference

Inspections play an essential role in effectively managing waterfront infrastructure, such that assessing and documenting the conditions of infrastructure ensures that they are adequately maintained for the protection of life, the environment, property, and structure longevity. This work focuses on utilizing remote sensing techniques, namely MBES (Multibeam Echo Sounder), LiDAR, and UAS-SfM (Unmanned Aerial System Structure-from-Motion), to perform inspections of waterfront structures and shorelines. These advanced methods produce high-resolution point clouds that are merged to create seamless bathymetric/topographic models with detailed representations of structures and other three-dimensional (3D) features. The result is a true ‘snapshot’ of the complete site conditions, which is highly sufficient for baseline level through design level inspections. This conveniently provides unlimited remote access to the information necessary to assess the condition of structures and identify any damaged areas, as required by ASCE Manual of Practice No. 130. In addition to being translated into 2D and/or 3D CAD linework drawings, point clouds can be stored and shared, creating a detailed visual database for infrastructure management. This is an accessible and comprehensive approach to monitoring sites and is ideal for keeping a record of infrastructure conditions throughout each level of inspection. Having this data available increases the effectiveness of inspection datasets and significantly helps agencies manage their infrastructure, both qualitatively and quantitatively.