Dongdaemun-gu Conducts Safety Inspection of Church Steeples Using Drones

Inspection of Religious Facility Steeples Using Old Drones... A New Paradigm in Safety Inspections... Conducted Through Talent Donation by Specialized Companies... Diagnosis and Evaluation Based on Steeple Height, Damage Location, and Severity Information

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor You Deok-yeol) conducted safety inspections of steeples by deploying drones at three religious facilities.

Among the hazardous structures in high-rise urban areas, drones were deployed to three church steeples to collect information. Using integrated 3D video analysis technology, the height, damage location, damage extent, and area of the steeples were diagnosed and evaluated.

After a series of church steeple collapse accidents caused by Typhoon Lingling last summer, the district conducted a full survey of 91 religious facility steeples in November 2019 and carried out safety inspections in collaboration with external experts (architects) for eight sites that requested inspections.

However, steeples are located in places that are difficult to access, posing a risk of falls during safety inspections, and some areas are inaccessible, limiting the scope of safety checks.

Accordingly, in February this year, the district devised measures to prevent disasters in safety blind spots. With talent donations from specialized companies, safety inspections were conducted using a professional program that integrates core technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution, such as drones, 3D digital twin technology, and numerical information technology.

The district plans to notify the facility managers of the inspection results and request continuous maintenance.

You Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “We expect to continuously manage disaster prevention for facilities by using drones to predict the risk of retaining wall and steep slope collapses during the thawing season and to inspect construction site safety. We will establish a more effective maintenance system including drones to prevent disasters and minimize damage.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.