Since the disaster in the rue d’Aubagne in Marseille, and more recently the collapse of buildings in Bordeaux and then Lille, town halls have been looking for ways to better control “building risks” on the oldest dwellings. Toulouse, which had to manage the collapse of a roof on rue Cujas in 2019, then that of the first floor of a building on rue de la Fonderie in 2020 – which fortunately did not cause any injuries but weakened adjacent buildings – is no exception.
It is the only town in France to have a fully-fledged department dedicated to “buildings in danger of ruin”. He collects reports from worried neighbors or condominium trustees when an ominous crack appears. But there are other less accessible danger signs than cracks.
Hence the decision of the town hall to equip itself with two drones. “They will be used to inspect the roofs or even the chimneys, the condition of which cannot necessarily be apprehended otherwise”, explains Claire Nison, the municipal elected official in charge of the service.
The two machines, one of which is equipped with a thermal camera, have already arrived within the walls of the Capitol. But they won’t start their aerial inspections until the spring, “probably in April-May”. Because if there are in the ranks a few “remote pilots” already trained, it takes time to harden other agents in this specialty which requires a lot of dexterity, or even to recruit them externally. The training will be provided by the firefighters of Haute-Garonne, themselves equipped with drones to support them on certain fires.
The situation is not “worsening”, 37 “perils” in progress
You also have to be square about the regulations, so as not to worry the local residents who would suddenly be surprised by the buzzing of a machine, which is moreover equipped with a camera. “The rules are very strict and it is the prefecture that manages overflight authorizations, specifies Claire Nison. We have already obtained a waiver for emergencies. “If an accident occurs on a building, the town hall will not need to file a flight plan to “enter” a building with its drone, taking advantage for example of a gaping hole in the roof. If risks persist for a “human” inspection, the inventory will be much faster. Drones, unrelated to the missions of the municipal police, may also be used exceptionally to fly over the banks of the Garonne during floods.
But the idea is also, outside of emergency situations, to carry out “prospective inspection missions to detect problems upstream and take the necessary measures”. In Toulouse, reports have increased. They went from 116 in 2018 to 170 in 2019 then to 186 in 2020. They fell to 123 in 2022. “But that does not mean that we have more buildings in danger, reassures Claire Nison. Awareness is progressing but the situation is not getting worse in Toulouse”. There are 37 danger orders currently in progress.