CASE C12 · ·
Turner Specialty Services: drone inspection of 600 m of elevated pipe racks
Turner Specialty Services inspected about 600 m of pipe racks some 15 m high by drone. The job took 2 days and 39 flights and reportedly cost about 60% less than conventional access. Windy days ruled out flights, and the figures come from a manufacturer case study.
| Owner | Industrial client (not named) |
| Provider | Turner Specialty Services (Turner Industries Group) |
| Location | Not stated |
| Aircraft | Flyability Elios 3 (LiDAR / Surveying Payload) |
| Sensors | 4K video, 12 MP stills, LiDAR |
Before
Cherry pickers, rope access or scaffolding: costly, labour-intensive, with fall and dropped-object risk.
With drones
39 flights captured video, stills and LiDAR of the racks without interrupting operations.
Outcomes
| Metric | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| cost | about 60% lower than traditional methods | Reported |
| duration | 2 days, 39 flights, over 2,000 ft (600 m) of racks about 50 ft (15 m) high | Reported |
| safety | work at height eliminated (not quantified) | Reported |
Caveats & limits
- Manufacturer case study; client, site and year not stated; the 60% figure is not broken down.
- Weather (wind) limits flights; the team chose low-wind days.
Sources
- Cutting Costs by 60% for Pipe Rack Inspections with the Elios 3Flyability Full text read
Sources checked: 2026-10-22