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Use of drones by public agencies: Govt appoints official contractors

SINGAPORE — Drones are set to take off at worksites along the Thomson-East Coast Line to monitor work progress, with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) expanding its use of drones.

The team from Avetics Global, which is one of two companies that will provide both non-tethered and tethered unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) services. Photo: Ernest Chua

The team from Avetics Global, which is one of two companies that will provide both non-tethered and tethered unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) services. Photo: Ernest Chua

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SINGAPORE — Drones are set to take off at worksites along the Thomson-East Coast Line to monitor work progress, with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) expanding its use of drones.

This, and other projects by government agencies, will be supported by a master contract to provide unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) services to public agencies, which has been awarded to three firms.

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) announced on Tuesday (Nov 1) that Aetos Security Management and Avetics Global will provide both non-tethered UAS and tethered UAS services, while CWT Aerospace Services will provide just non-tethered UAS services.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore is to administer the two-year contract, which ends Oct 31, 2018.

The ministry, which put up the contract for bidding earlier this year, said in a statement that the master contract would help “achieve economies of scale by aggregating the demand from public agencies” and facilitate public agencies’ procurement of UAS services from commercial vendors.

It added that the contracted service providers are expected to put in place and adhere to a “stringent set of safety requirements”.

Public agencies, such as the LTA, have already been using drones in the past year to capture aerial videos that monitor work progress at two construction work sites as part of proof-of-concept trials.

With the contract in place, the LTA will deploy drones at 10 work sites for the Thomson-East Coast Line, which include the station sites at Orchard Road, Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, Upper Thomson, Great World City and Havelock.

This is expected to overcome the existing challenges of relying on photography work. “Typically, such aerial photographs have to be taken manually with a camera, at a vantage point from high-rise buildings situated closest to the worksite,” the LTA said. “However, this presents a difficulty for worksites that may be located in places where there are no high-rise buildings in the vicinity which could provide a clear view of the work sites.”

It will thus expand its ongoing proof-of-concept trials to deploy UAS at these work sites for up to a year through the contract.

National water agency PUB also intends to tap the contract to deploy drones for general surveillance. It has been using them for that purpose at Marina Reservoir since August and has plans to use them at other reservoirs.

“UAS will supplement the efforts of officers who carry out daily patrols at the reservoirs. The use of UAS also enhances safety as it can replace manual inspections of tall structures and rooftops,” its spokesperson said.

The Manpower Ministry has also deployed drones to monitor high-risk work sites, such as contruction sites and inaccessible areas. They may be used to keep an eye on safety lapses in workplaces, such as poor housekeeping issues and open sites with no barricades. Photos taken by drones may also show problematic areas such as rusty parts or cracks on tower crane surfaces, for example.

The UAS will also come in useful when responding to dangerous scenarios, such as the toppling of a crane or fallen structures.

With the rapid advances in UAS technology, there is potential for more widespread use of such systems by government agencies to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations, the Transport Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Pang Kin Keong, said. Mr Pang is also chairman of the UAS Committee.

The inter-agency UAS Committee, chaired by the ministry, was set up to facilitate the use of such systems by the private and public sectors for their business and operations, taking into account considerations of aviation safety, public safety, security and privacy.

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