Sussex using drone to fast-track work on project to reduce flood impact

Engineering technologists in the Town of Sussex are using a drone to help collect topographical data and pictures to help fast-track survey work for flood mitigation infrastructure.

The light detection and ranging drone uses light, invisible to the human eye, to measure the distance and position of objects in its path. That data is later used to create maps and 3D models of that location. 

"We're able to filter out vegetation and buildings and other obstructions and get the true earth surface," Mike Allen said, the drone's pilot and a senior technologist with Gemtec Consulting, a New Brunswick engineering consultancy that helps conduct geotechnical, material and environmental tests and surveys. 

Accurate topographical data in turn helps engineers and technicians to make better design decisions, he said

Allen said his drone can pick up millions of data points in an hour, mapping large construction sites, while the same work would take weeks to be completed manually by a surveyor using a hand-held GPS data collector.

"I do a lot of the post processing and design work in the office afterwards and when you have [the drone] data, you know what you're dealing with. There's no second guessing what's actually there," he said.

Allen said his colleague also collects specific data points manually, such as hydro poles, fire hydrants and culvert inlets, as a backup.

"If a car is passing over a manhole, we might not see that in the [drone] survey, but we collect that information as a due diligence and accuracy check as well," he said.

Scott Hatcher, the town's chief administrative officer, said this latest technology helps the town to fast-track the process of building flood mitigation infrastructure.

The town has had major flooding over a number of years, including in 2014, 2019, 2020, 2022 and early 2024.

Hatcher said building the infrastructure in a timely fashion is important to protect the residents from any further loss.

"The data would be used in several projects to make the overall strategy happen. And we're using the technology to speed up the process of the data collection and allowing our engineers to get to work sooner."

Sussex is building a flow-diversion channel at the town's eastern limits, another such channel on Parsons Brook and storm-water infrastructure upgrades in the town's northeast and northwest corners, including two overpasses and a new berm in and around the Meadow Crescent area, Hatcher said.

The first project in the plan — a $1.2-million berm behind Gateway Mall — was completed in 2019.