Just realized how many divers are moving into underwater drone inspection work

I was reading a trade magazine article about a big bridge project in Tampa, and they mentioned they used a mix of divers and remote vehicles for the initial survey. The project manager said they saved about 15% on the inspection budget by using the drones for the first pass. It made me think about how many job postings I've seen lately asking for ROV experience alongside dive certs. Maybe the skill set is shifting faster than I thought. Has anyone here taken a course on operating those inspection drones?

2 comments

2 Comments

campbell.cora27d ago

The Port of Long Beach had a similar setup for their last big pier inspection. They used a company that had divers and ROV pilots on the same crew, and they basically did a side by side comparison. The drone mapped the whole structure in two days, then the divers only went down for close up checks on the flagged areas. I took a two week basic ROV operator course last year through a community college program, and half the class were commercial divers looking to add the skill. The pay bump for dual certification is real, at least on the West Coast.

blaked7927d ago

Smart move. That combo is the only way to handle big jobs without blowing the budget.