Using ROVs for Construction

Construction work under the water surface requires continuous follow-up both before, during and after a project is completed. Having a set of eyes underwater enables a more lean and effective self-inspection and documentation throughout the project.

Traditionally, divers have been hired to record what’s going on under the surface. With underwater drones, the industry can now do their own documentation.

Increased project control with underwater drones

A lot of construction work takes place near or in water. Both the construction of ferry lanes, bridges and roads require a good overview of how the construction affects the surrounding area and vice versa.

Documenting construction work with underwater drones — Oda from Blueye inspecting the underwater work at the ferry quay

NRC Group was responsible for the completion of the new ferry quays on the Brekstad-Valset lane in Trøndelag. Upgrades were made to accommodate the new electric ferries which started running from January 2019.

The Blueye Pioneer is easy to use and doesn't demand much training. It's also an advantage that everything is battery driven, it gives me more mobility. - Joakim Myren, Project Engineer

With an underwater drone, the NRC Group was able to both conduct inspections in advance, plan future work and verify completed work. With the drone they had good control of the developments below the surface.

Underwater inspections with the Blueye Pioneer at Brekstad ferry quay — Oda and Joakim performing underwater inspections with the drone

The ROV is designed to handle rough weather

Construction sites doing underwater work often create challenging conditions in the water, such as lower visibility. The underwater ROV Blueye Pioneer is equipped with both powerful LED lights and full HD camera, which has proven to be especially necessary in poor visibility water. Getting close to underwater installations is also easy with 4 thrusters that allow you to move both horizontally and vertically with the camera in a fixed position.

The Blueye pioneer underwater drone performing construction inspections — The Blueye Pioneer underwater drone performing construction inspections

Share your live inspection with multiple spectators or on external screens

If you want to share your underwater inspections with colleagues or other expertise onshore, you can do so using both the Blueye Observer app and/or share to a larger external monitor.

Blueye Dive Buddy can be downloaded to both iOS and Android devices. When downloaded, simply connect to the same WiFi network as the drone and you’ll have the video stream from the drone on multiple devices. Should you wish to share the live video on a larger screen, it’s possible to share the screen of the device running the Blueye Dive Buddy via an HDMI cable or a custom docking station.

Closeup image of the Blueye pioneer underwater drone — The Blueye Pioneer underwater drone

Easy data processing of your inspections

The recording function on the drone makes it easy to document the progress of the project. Once you have completed a dive and recorded your video, you can easily transfer the recordings to a smartphone, tablet or PC with the Blueye app or Blueye File Transfer.