PSI - Issue 84

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 57–64

© 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Abstract The monitoring and digital modelling of civil infrastructure are essential for lifecycle management, enabling early detection of structural and hydrogeological risks and supporting timely, cost-effective maintenance. In this context, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) equipped with LiDAR sensors provide a powerful tool for high-precision data acquisition. LiDAR produces highly detailed point clouds that are largely unaffected by lighting conditions and vegetation, thus enabling accurate reconstruction of terrain and structural elements. This paper presents a complete UAS–LiDAR methodology for bridge surveying and digital reconstruction, covering flight planning, airborne LiDAR acquisition, trajectory and strip adjustment, point-cloud classification, and mesh generation. The approach is demonstrated through a case study on an Italian viaduct, highlighting its potential to support infrastructure assessment, monitoring, and maintenance, especially in complex environments. III Fabre Conference: Existing Bridges, Viaducts, and Tunnels: Research, Innovation, and Applications LiDAR-Based UAS Methodology for Digital Modelling and Monitoring of Bridges Antonio Di Pietro a *, Giacomo Buffarini a , Paolo Clemente a , Saverio De Vito a , Nicola Fabbian b , Benedetto Fresilli a , Alessandro Giocoli a , Alessandro Giorgi c , Alessandro Lipari a , Ilario Morriello a , Chiara Ormando a , Gabriele Piantadosi a , Carlo Tebano a , Tiziano Vercellino c a ENEA – Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Develop., Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy b Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (DICEA), University of Padua, Via Ognissanti 39, 35129 Padua, Italy. c Italian Personal Drones, Via Federico Rosazza 38, 00153 Rome (RM), Italy

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Conference Keywords: LiDAR ; Unmanned Aerial Systems; Bridge monitoring

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: antonio.dipietro@enea.it

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Conference 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.06.008