Ahneman Kirby, LLC (AKL) inspected, surveyed, and reported on critical infrastructure for 10 miles of CT Route 8, making recommendations on regular and long-term maintenance. Our objective is to ensure everything works. Many of the structures were not visible above the surface but are essential to keeping the highway clear and prevent scouring or flooding. AKL’s inspection and reporting of infrastructure conditions ensures that everything is working as intended, is in operable condition, and repair or renovation solutions are presented to prolong the service life of the infrastructure.

AKL is a specialized consulting firm using LiDAR technology and photogrammetry to assess existing conditions. In this case, the AKL team was asked to inspect several culverts and create 3D models of them to update records and check for damage or blockages. We successfully demonstrated to our client how LiDAR and photogrammetry deliver accurate results and are part of a new generation of inspection tools.

Several of the culverts were pitch black and narrow, making inspection difficult. Inspecting a concrete culvert was sometimes done with a crawler, which is a remote terrain device that captures images inside the pipe. Outside, the exposed area of a culvert was inspected with a terrestrial scanning solution. The AKL team was equipped to inspect culverts that were too steep for a crawler. We planned a workflow to collect data quickly and safely that would be actionable, without having to return to the site because of poor data collection.

After the data was collected, our team processed the images with orientation and scale included to ensure the accuracy of the final model. We completed a 3D model and shared it with the client within 48 hours of inspecting the culvert, providing a fast turnaround with actionable data.