Drone and Elevated MAST Traffic Monitoring on the A303

In August 2017 Drone Tech Aerospace was engaged by Copper Consultancy, working on behalf of Highways England, to monitor heavy summer holiday traffic on the A303 at Stonehenge. The brief called for both aerial and ground-level coverage of the queues building along the World Heritage Site approach, so the team deployed a drone alongside a 4x4-mounted elevated MAST photography and video rig to capture the full picture.

Pairing the two platforms let the crew combine the drone's flexibility with the elevated MAST's fixed-position capability, including steady time-lapse views that would have been difficult to achieve from the air alone. Managing Director David Field described highway traffic monitoring as "a great application for our combined drone and elevated MAST photography & video services," noting that the pairing gave the client the flexible, varied, high-quality media coverage the brief required.

The finished video, produced by Copper Consultancy from the footage DTA supplied, was well received by the client and stood as an early showcase for the combined drone-and-MAST solution DTA has continued to offer on similar highway and infrastructure monitoring projects since.