NM group, a specialist provider of solutions and services to the electricity and transmission industry, are pleased to announce an innovative new service offering to utilities. It is low cost, high value, ready to go now and aligns to the established patrol and inspection cycle. The premise is built upon the application of new technology to existing practices – to enhance, rather than replace, patrol and safety inspection activities undertaken by helicopter. We have brought together a mix of imaging systems and lightweight LiDAR units which collect geo-located asset information during the patrol and enable accurate and cost effective detection of:
- Vegetation encroachments/infringements (FAC-003-3 compliant)
- Hardware defects on wooden poles and steel structures
- Safety issues on the line or corridor
- A range of other asset information
This is undertaken in such a way that the planned, and budgeted, patrol can carry on as normal. We take the geo-located data from the aircraft and run it through a series of analyzes to provide the simple set of intelligent, graded answers that are needed to more effectively manage risk and reliability on the network. This is presented back to the utility in such a way that it can be actioned via the work management system, updated to the asset management system and inform maintenance teams to improve the efficiency of planned field activities. It provides an easily accessed record of RoW/corridor condition at a given time and can act as a robust audit trail to demonstrate regulatory compliance or for evidence of practice in case of legal enquiry. We can use your own helicopters, those of your chosen contractor, or one of our qualified suppliers.