Time-Critical Netting Verification

A netting check with no inspection platforms available

The Story Bridge's under-deck debris containment netting — the barrier that stops falling debris reaching river traffic below — needed to be confirmed intact after Riverfire 2025. The contractor responsible for the netting needed an answer quickly.

The bridge's own under-deck inspection platforms were out of action, and a manual under-deck traverse to check the netting by hand meant significant labour cost and time for what was, at its core, a visual question: was the netting still intact?

Live works underway on the same structure

Footpath remediation crews and the scaffold and netting contractors were operating on the bridge at the same time, so the inspection had to run around live works rather than requiring a shutdown. CASA-approved controlled-airspace procedures apply to every Hover flight over the Brisbane CBD.

A close visual inspection, reviewed live

Hover flew a close visual inspection of the under-deck netting run from a safe standoff — no platforms, no rope access, nobody working over the water.

The contractor reviewed the netting run live over video as the flight progressed, so the condition question was answered on the spot rather than after a delivery cycle.

No defects, confirmed on the spot

The netting was confirmed intact in the live review — the contractor had its answer without remobilising access equipment or standing down the works below.

Hover's standard next step when an inspection finds damage is a full photo report documenting the defect. Here, none was found, so none was needed — the live review was the record the contractor needed.