FALCON FOR FRENCH DAM AND BRIDGE INSPECTION

French dams and bridges inspection specialist, IDCBTP, has chosen a Saab Seaeye Falcon for detailed infrastructure examination.

Falcon inspecting bridge supports at Lake Vouglans

“We chose the Saab Seaeye Falcon because it's a reliable system that’s simple to use and to upgrade,” says Clément Chaudouet of IDCBTP.

“It's also a stable system, which is very important to us as we need perfect control of the ROV during a dam inspection.”

He adds that Saab Seaeye’s position as leader in the world of underwater robotics was important in their decision to choose the Falcon — and that the company “has a great support team.”

For a clear and accurate analysis of the condition of the structures, IDCBTP’s Falcon is fitted with a range of systems including lasers, multibeam sonar, profiler sonar and navigation and positioning systems.

Precision data collected in this way can identify repairs needed, help maintenance planning and spot trends in structure condition.

Two structures under inspection are the bridge supports for the Pont de la Pyle at Lake Vouglans and the upstream face of the dam structure of the Barrage de Thurins at Rhône.

The world’s top selling vehicle of its class for over 20 years, the Falcon’s success comes from being a small, metre-sized, intelligent, powerful, five-thruster-strong, highly manoeuvrable, multi-tasking and easy to use vehicle, depth rated to 1000 metres.

Enhanced with Saab Seaeye’s revolutionary iCON™ intelligent control system, the Falcon is a future-flexible package designed to adopt evolving technologies.

With a reliability record covering thousands of hours of operations globally, working in the most challenging environments, including long tunnel excursions, it can remain stable in turbulent waters and strong currents whilst recording and undertaking delicate tasks.

Falcon inspecting the dam structure at Barrage de Thurins