Public works construction

[pianomanar]

Does anybody know what the policy is for flying over a public works projects like Bridges I was about to take my drone for a wide Flight of the area for a new bridge being built and had second thoughts about laws would anybody know I'm in Arkansas

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[one-eyed hobo]

It's unclear to me at the moment how hobby/personal flights might be restricted. I can only guess that restrictions would not be more liberal than that for commercial flights.

As far as Federal/FAA regulations covering commercial flights go ... you can generally fly up to 400 ft above the ground, or even up to 400 ft above a structure/tower/building ... with exceptions:

• Any Temporary Flight Restrictions that might be imposed by the government over the project might preclude you from flight in the area.
• There may be permanent restrictions from operations which you'd only be able to discover by consulting a map like you'd find at SkyVector: Flight Planning / Aeronautical Charts , which can be quite complicated to understand.

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

Well if there are people present at the construction site then it would be against FAA regulations to fly over the bridge because you aren't suppose to fly over people.

If the bridge is partially under construction and traffic is still traveling on the bridge, its against FAA regulations to fly over cars. If you fly beside the bridge and not directly over the bridge and there isn't any buildings,people or roads on the bottom you should be ok.

 

[pianomanar]

So let me get this straight as a hobbyist I can fly anywhere I want as long as it's it's not an obstruction the bridge has no traffic because they blew up the old bridge I am not a professional I just thought I'd share what's happening in Little Rock Arkansas but didn't want to get in trouble since I'm a registered user of drones

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[pianomanar]

I realize I can't fly close to the bridge I have to be at a distance to wait so I don't cause any problems or things like that

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[Drestin Black]

its against FAA regulations to fly over cars. If you fly beside the bridge and not directly over the bridge and there isn't any buildings,people or roads on the bottom you should be ok.

Really? Where does it say I can't fly over cars?

And why can't I fly over a bridge?



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[QuadcopterCrazy]

Really? Where does it say I can't fly over cars?

And why can't I fly over a bridge?



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Because you aren't allowed to fly over people, do you realize how hazardous it is to fly over traffic? What if it malfunctioned and fell from the sky and hit someones windshield and caused them to crash? Common sense.. But it seems a lot of people lack it these days... To me that's using it in a reckless and hazardous manner which is not allowed in part 107 of the rules.

I never said you can't fly over a bridge, but if there are people on a bridge then by the rules you aren't allowed to because you aren't allowed to fly over groups of people. Again this is where common sense is suppose to kick in..


And here you go the FAA in Partnership with the AMA has stated that.

• Do not fly near or over sensitive infrastructure or property such as power stations, water treatment facilities, correctional facilities, heavily traveled roadways, government facilities, etc.

Recreational Users | Know Before You Fly

Bottom line is please use common sense..

 

[Great Pumpkin]

I have been taking sequential pictures of a bridge under construction for my own amusement and usually do so on a weekend morning when construction is not happening. I checked in with the construction foreman before I started, told him what I wanted to do, told him I would give him copies of my photos, and asked if there were any views that would be particularly useful to him. He was copacetic with my plans as long as I did not trespass, launch, or land on the construction property, and as long as I reported anything that seemed to violate good safety practices. I fly the site about every two weeks to capture significant changes, rather than day to day.

 

[Drestin Black]

Because you aren't allowed to fly over people, do you realize how hazardous it is to fly over traffic? What if it malfunctioned and fell from the sky and hit someones windshield and caused them to crash? Common sense.. But it seems a lot of people lack it these days...

Bottom line is please use common sense..

How much damage... hmmm.. can we agree a lot lot less than when a helicopter or airplane crashes.

There are a lot of what ifs we can make up:
You are flying along and fly through a thin power cable you didn't see, and it's the cable that feeds dedicated power to a resident of a house that uses it for life support and she died instantly. We can make up all kinds of things.

It's odds and potential for real damage. How likely is a drone to fall on someone and hit them with enough force to hurt them. Not very likely, which is why the FAA is poised to make some rule changes regarding flying over people.




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[Drestin Black]

There is common sense and then there is over caution. Yes, be careful, but keep things in perspective. Flying over a stadium filled with people, if you drop you'll have a good chance of hitting someone, yup. Flying over a bridge, you'd have to drop while over the middle of the road way and then hit, what, someone in a convertible? It's a 3-4 lb bird here, made of mostly plastic. Probably the biggest concern is if the props are going, goth slice someone up a bit. But I'll tell you what, if my bird was felling straight outta the sky into people I'd be cutting power.

Next, just how often do our craft just fall from the sky? Not often. More likely operator error. All the rules In the world won't help a straight up mistake. Flying at the sides of the bridge safely as you suspect when the operator makes a mistake and crashes into the roadway anyway. He didn't intent to break a rule but something went wrong, so, do we now make a rule that you shouldn't come within 3.1 miles of anything with people in it because if this bird goes haywire it could crash into anything within its operating radius.
Please use common sense, in moderation.


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[Drestin Black]

Also, the rules state not to fly over groups of people. It always says "groups of people" I can't find where it ever says "person" or uses "people" meaning singular. The intention here is to avoid a big target of a group of people, they aren't saying never fly over any human being... the odds are just too low that a fall by your noisy craft will land on the head of one person standing in the open. So, common sense; if you keep among suggestions for where not to fly because the potential that even one person could be below, we've run out of places to fly.


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[QuadcopterCrazy]

There is common sense and then there is over caution. Yes, be careful, but keep things in perspective. Flying over a stadium filled with people, if you drop you'll have a good chance of hitting someone, yup. Flying over a bridge, you'd have to drop while over the middle of the road way and then hit, what, someone in a convertible? It's a 3-4 lb bird here, made of mostly plastic. Probably the biggest concern is if the props are going, goth slice someone up a bit. But I'll tell you what, if my bird was felling straight outta the sky into people I'd be cutting power.

Next, just how often do our craft just fall from the sky? Not often. More likely operator error. All the rules In the world won't help a straight up mistake. Flying at the sides of the bridge safely as you suspect when the operator makes a mistake and crashes into the roadway anyway. He didn't intent to break a rule but something went wrong, so, do we now make a rule that you shouldn't come within 3.1 miles of anything with people in it because if this bird goes haywire it could crash into anything within its operating radius.
Please use common sense, in moderation.


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So you don't think a drone couldn't smash a windshield or even crack it? And you don't think that it would scare the person driving the car that might make the person veer off the road and possibly crash? Have you ever heard of people throwing rocks off of over pass's and hitting cars.. A 3-4 pound object falling out of the sky just might have the same effect..You might want to rethink some things.

How often do drones fall out of the sky? Enough, there's lots of youtube videos and people post about them in this forum.. Its far from a rare occurrence, it doesn't happen all the time but it happens and its something you have to consider.

As I stated earlier the FAA agrees with the AMA in that you can't fly over heavily trafficked roads and some bridges are heavily driven on. Take it up with the FAA if you disagree or just ignore the rules which I suspect you do anyway since you are arguing about it.

 

[Drestin Black]

No, the FAA doesn't say you can't fly over roads or bridges, heavily trafficked or not, the rules have to literally say that and they do not.

I think it's far more rare than you believe. There are far more YouTube videos of non-crash flights than crashes. And most crashes are close to the ground and pilot error vs just plopping outta the sky.

Also, no, a 3-4 lb drone hitting a windshield is not going to penetrate it. Scare the driver? Sure. Those people hit by a stone? They didn't crash. They pulled over and took cell pix, all unhurt etc. and those stones were certainly more dangerous objects than plastic toys.

The FAA currently says not over "groups of people" - that's the rule and literally what it is and isn't is there. The only negotiable item is what constitutes "group"
Taken notes this applies to people who aren't part of
The flight operation. As a photographer, say you were hired to film a wedding, you could fly over that group of people because they are part of what you are doing. If you did a photoshoot of a music video and it includes a big group of props driving through heavily trafficked bridges you could film it.

Look, there are rules - follow them!! But don't expand them out of excess caution. You don't get karma points to use later if you screw up, so, as you said; Use common sense, and as I added, in moderation.


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[Drestin Black]

Ps, the FAA is currently reviewing its rules for "over
Groups of people" - guess what; class of UAS under 5 lbs will likely be excluded from the rule! Guess they took a better look.

The single most common waivers granted today are for flying over people, flying at night and flying beyond vlos. So, there are rules and then there is reality. Sometimes the two meet...



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[QuadcopterCrazy]

Ps, the FAA is currently reviewing its rules for "over
Groups of people" - guess what; class of UAS under 5 lbs will likely be excluded from the rule! Guess they took a better look.

The single most common waivers granted today are for flying over people, flying at night and flying beyond vlos. So, there are rules and then there is reality. Sometimes the two meet...



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If it is under review, its under review, its still not changed and you still need a waiver if you fly over people without a waiver you are breaking the rules plain and simple.

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

No, the FAA doesn't say you can't fly over roads or bridges, heavily trafficked or not, the rules have to literally say that and they do not.

I think it's far more rare than you believe. There are far more YouTube videos of non-crash flights than crashes. And most crashes are close to the ground and pilot error vs just plopping outta the sky.

Also, no, a 3-4 lb drone hitting a windshield is not going to penetrate it. Scare the driver? Sure. Those people hit by a stone? They didn't crash. They pulled over and took cell pix, all unhurt etc. and those stones were certainly more dangerous objects than plastic toys.

The FAA currently says not over "groups of people" - that's the rule and literally what it is and isn't is there. The only negotiable item is what constitutes "group"
Taken notes this applies to people who aren't part of
The flight operation. As a photographer, say you were hired to film a wedding, you could fly over that group of people because they are part of what you are doing. If you did a photoshoot of a music video and it includes a big group of props driving through heavily trafficked bridges you could film it.

Look, there are rules - follow them!! But don't expand them out of excess caution. You don't get karma points to use later if you screw up, so, as you said; Use common sense, and as I added, in moderation.


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How is this not clear enough for you. A bridge can be a heavily traveled roadway.
Recreational Users | Know Before You Fly

• Do not fly near or over sensitive infrastructure or property such as power stations, water treatment facilities, correctional facilities, heavily traveled roadways, government facilities, etc.

Know Before You Fly is an education campaign founded by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) in partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to educate prospective users about the safe and responsible operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

 

[Drestin Black]

If it is under review, its under review, its still not changed and you still need a waiver if you fly over people without a waiver you are breaking the rules plain and simple.

*Groups* of people
Potentially ANYWHERE in the sky *might* have a person under it - so, we fly only in fenced off AMA fields on special days?

You should avoid flying over crowds - yes, agreed! And use common sense. If you are at point x and need to get to point z just 100 yards away, it's gonna be fine to buzz on over yia point y that might have a couple of people just walking around.

Yes, don't fly over a Bridge during rush hour, but you can cross the roadway as you yawn around your point of aim when it's only got a scattered vehicle now and again as you fly over (being over the roadway a total of two-4 seconds)

Common sense application - not dictator fists


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[dirkclod]

Guys lets get back to the OP and stop being argumentative

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

Mmmm dip.

 

[Drestin Black]

Dip is good - I like dip


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