Blount County, TN, Highway Department Drone Unit
Blount County Highway Dept. in Tennessee, has 3 Part §107 certified pilots. The unit has been operational for three years and they use the drones for many different applications, ranging from road inspections to erosion control, for bridge inspections and documenting disasters and to provide other department assistance.. They hold weekly classroom training as well as flight training and they have utilized some Drone Professor classes in the process. Videos from the department has been used by FEMA, TEMA and the TN dept of environment and conservation.
The department operates 2 Mavic Pro’s, 1 Mavic Enterprise and 1 Matrice 300 RTK. These state-of-the-art Drones have been invaluable in the assistance of obtaining video and images from the past storms we have had in our area and allow us to see critical areas that we have never been able to see before.
The department has the ability to view road issues, storm water concerns, flooding issues and erosion problems, in a way that they were previously unable to do, thus allowing the department to pre-plan repairs before they become dangerous, and thereby better serving the citizens of the beautiful county.
The Drone Professor thanks Jim Cox with the BCHD Drone unit for sharing this perspective on how our training programs have been put to use.
We invite our students to share their stories with The Drone Professor, and we’ll feature them here! Contact The Drone Professor through the Contact page.
