Virginia Natural Gas will now be using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as aerial drones, to perform equipment inspections on gas pipeline infrastructure. Flights across Hampton Roads as well as northern James City and New Kent counties will be used to inspect more than 5,500 miles of pipe. VNG will employ self-dispatched Mavic 2 Pro drones that will allow engineers and asset protection and construction managers to have the opportunity to use UAVs as part of their daily work.
“VNG is always looking at new, innovative ways to help us continue to provide reliable service to our customers,” said Zack Gravely, asset protection specialist and one of the new drone pilots, in a press release. “Drones are ideally suited for inspecting equipment because they can safely and quickly deliver high-quality photos and videos of our system in a way that can minimize environmental impact and inconvenience for customers along any right-of-way. This technology will be another tool in our arsenal.”
In the past, traditional methods for pipeline inspection have been slower, manually intensive, expensive, and sometimes cause safety concerns due to the surrounding natural environment. Vegetation, for example, can overgrow and obscure the path of workers trying to access the pipeline. Even though natural gas pipelines run underground, they are accessed from above the surface for maintenance and inspection. Drones equipped with a visual or infrared camera can now be used for navigating and patrolling a segment of pipeline, identifying and capturing images or videos of areas of interest.
A team of three pilots will fly the drones for VNG. They recently received their pilot certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration and hope to have the program up soon to see from above what they can’t see on foot.