The state organization tasked with managing and maintaining England’s network of major roadways, National Highway, has introduced a new drone flight management system to facilitate access and operation of pilots wanting to fly UAVs near principal ground transport arteries.
National Highway said the new web-based asset was already functioning, and was open to drone pilots preparing flights around England’s heavily-frequented roads. The objective of the platform, it said, was to improve the coordination and visibility of UAV activity near highways and so-called “A roads” linking major UK cities by making details of missions available to all stakeholders.
Requests for and notifications of drone flights around National Highway roadways has been rising steadily over time, surpassing 1,000 over the past couple of years.
The system involves pilots logging onto the site and entering specifics of their planned flights, using previously scheduled missions to check for other aerial activity slated for the same area. The new details are then approved and shared with other users accessing the National Highway platform.
The initiative seeks to improve visibility of aerial traffic further by interfacing with similar systems operated by train infrastructure operator National Rail, and electricity transmission company National Grid. That networking is expected to give drone pilots a full view of UAV activities in areas around them as they prepare to overfly National Highway property.
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Not surprisingly, the utility is not primarily intended for leisure pilots or hobbyists, but mostly enterprise, film, and service providers – many of whom work using drones in projects linked to repair and upkeep of National Highway infrastructure.
The state-owned company noted that UAVs are already a fairly common sight around ground transport networks as they perform surveying and inspection missions, and monitor progress of construction sites.
Far from fretting about the potential hazards that aerial craft operating near speeding cars theoretically pose, National Highway has instead welcomed the considerably reduced risks to human observers replaced by sky-peering drones, and the added efficiency of aerial craft in speeding road work – thus reducing closure or reduced flow times that inconvenience drivers.
“With usage increasing, we needed to develop a more joined-up approach to appropriately coordinate drone activities near our network,” said, Jason Glasson, National Highway’s drones governance hub chair. “Our safety risk governance approach for all drone operations, supported by this new flight management system, will help us safely plan, coordinate, and record our increasing drone operations while maintaining safety for our workforce and people living near to the road network.”
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