Drones for Road Condition Monitoring: Applications and Benefits

This systematic literature review (SLR) explores the increasing use of drones in road condition monitoring (D-RCM), a development poised to enhance inspection efficiency and reduce costs. Surveying 60 articles from a pool of 619 publications between 2014 and 2022, the study unveils cost and time savings, safety enhancements, improved mobility, and reliability as the primary drivers behind D-RCM adoption. D-RCM applications, categorized into areas like condition monitoring, situation assessment, network mapping, asset monitoring, and construction inspection, face challenges such as visual line-of-sight maintenance, limited flight time, payload capacity, and engineering errors. However, potential solutions emerge, including terrain-following features, optimizing battery capacity-weight balance, and employing trained personnel. Importantly, the study reveals considerable cost benefits and impressive return on investment of up to 980%, positioning drones as a promising, cost-effective tool for infrastructure management, with profound implications for theory, management, and societal impacts of D-RCM applications.