Session 1E: How Drones are Changing the Transportation Industry
Session Description: Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, are changing the face of transportation engineering. Through each stage of the project development process, they are being used to reduce costs and save time, while enhancing the safety of engineering professionals and the traveling public. The three presentations as part of this session will describe how drones are being used as part of engineering planning and design, roadway construction, and maintenance and operations.
Moderator: John Parker, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
- Delaware Department of Transportation Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program, Dwayne Day, Homeland Security Planner, Delaware Department of Transportation
- Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program, Mike Davidson , PE, Project Manager, Gannett Fleming
- Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program, John Fuller, PE, Project Manager, McMahon Associates
- Utilizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) for Bridge Inspection, Barritt Lovelace, Regional Manager, Collins Engineers, Inc.
Speaker Bios:
Dwayne Day is presently the homeland security and emergency management planner with the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT). Dwayne has been in this position with the Delaware Department of Transportation since 2007. His primary responsibility is to ensure that DelDOT is prepared to respond and recover from any natural or man-made incidents that affect the agency’s day-to-day operations. Dwayne created DelDOTs Unmanned Aerial System Program and is the program manager, chief pilot and trainer. In addition, he is the chair of the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s sub-committee on unmanned aerial vehicles; and the chair for the Delaware unmanned aerial systems training and certification steering committee. Prior to assuming his position at DelDOT, he was with the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, where he was the weapons of mass destruction training coordinator and the state exercise planner. Dwayne is retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service. He has two master’s degrees, one in homeland security from the Naval Postgraduate School and the other in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His undergraduate degree is in management from the University of Maryland.
Mike Davidson is a project manager with Gannett Fleming and has been providing on-site assistance to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for the past three years. In this role, he has been supporting the Traffic Operations Department with various initiatives, including the Commission’s UAS program. He is experienced in many different aspects of traffic engineering and is a graduate of Penn State and the University of Texas at Austin.
John Fuller is an ITS and lighting project manager for McMahon Associates out of their Camp Hill, Pennsylvania office. He earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Penn State in 2006 and is a licensed professional engineer in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Rhode Island. He has extensive experience in ITS device and system design, ITS program development and studies, and traffic operations planning. John has worked closely with several municipalities, state departments of transportation, and turnpike commissions to facilitate project completion.
Barritt Lovelace is a licensed professional engineer and has 20 years of structural engineering experience in both bridge design and inspection. He has designed over 50 bridges and performed over 500 bridge inspections including complex, fracture critical, underwater and rope access inspections. He is a certified diver, rope access technician, non-destructive testing technician and NHI instructor.
