Corp of Engineers Dams & Locks no fly zones?

[sar104]

There's a CoE earthen Dam nearby and drone flights are prohibited near it yet there is a public highway on top of it. You can't fly a Mavic there but you can drive a multi-ton semi truck over it. Also, CoE prohibits Drones anywhere near the lake because it's a water supply yet anyone can take their boat out on the surface. Huh?

Those do seem to be examples of a complete lack of rational thinking.

 

[badaxed]

Totally national security I would think, other than a nuke if you wanted to cause massive casualties destroy a dam. Everything for 10's to hundreds of miles would be destroyed!

I'm actually surprised dams aren't NFZ by default.
Cheers

yeah I see a small 2lb drone destroying hundreds of tons of concrete! Lol

 

[BanditsRoost]

For what it's worth here is where I've been directed when seeking permission to fly COE property in NC, TN and GA:
NR 16-020: Corps unveils policy for operation of unmanned aerial systems at Nashville District projects > Nashville District > News Releases

That said, I've had good luck and bad getting permission. Some of the Rangers at W.Scott Kerr Reservoir will give you the ok as long as they know you are there and you give them flight times and dates. Others ( mostly during peek season) willo have no part of it. I enjoy shooting dams and old water towers.

 

[groux]

Open the B4U Fly app, go to Status, select 'Other Guidance and Restrictions', and then 'Flight Restrictions Near Critical Infrastructure (Power Plants, power lines, dams, etc). It will open a PDF with specific guidance from the FAA. It covers Dams but not locks but I can assure you if you Google deep enough you'll find the same info about locks.

 

[Tbredhed]

yeah I see a small 2lb drone destroying hundreds of tons of concrete! Lol

If you weren't in such a rush to belittle me you would have noticed that is not what I said. My thought was using the drone to do a close up survey of the dam which could possibly be used to find any weak points.
Cheers

 

[FlyGuyNH]

Airspace or not I would bet the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has every right to shut down the operation, good or bad.

No, they do not. Only the FAA controls the national airspace. Simple.

 

[FlyGuyNH]

I ran across this mindset while shooting in a helicopter. I called to let them know we would be shooting very close, and could we land on the dam to remove the door? (it was a very large dam) They said absolutely not, and claimed an NFZ. So we made a point of flying VERY low over the admin building while shooting. Twice.

 

[Tom25]

What frustrates me about airspace it isn't controlled (yet) by the National Park, dam operators, power companies, or anyone else. It is controlled by the FAA. Until their new regulations take effect in a couple years, you can fly almost anywhere. So long as you aren't fly above people, vehicles, or in restricted FAA air space.

At least that is my interpretation from everything I have read on the subject.

 

[grinnelljd]

I checked the US Army Corps of Engineers website (New England District) for drone rules or regulations. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulations 36 CFR 327.4b states: “operation of aircraft on project lands at other than those designated by the District Commander is prohibited.” Persons found in violation of these regulations may be subject to criminal or civil penalties pursuant to 36 C.F.R 327.25.

To me, that prohibits launching, recovering, or operating a drone from their land, but should not prohibit overflight of their area because that airspace is regulated by the FAA. The same applies with National Parks. You can overfly, but you can't operate from within a National Park.

Good luck trying to argue this point with any official who demands you stop and threatens to cite your and/or confiscate your equipment. Operators have to know all the rules and regulations ("Ignorance of the law is no excuse"), but officials can be ignorant of the rules and regulations and suffer no consequences.

 

[Tom25]

I live in an area with a LOT of dams, along the Columbia River. While I have yet to fly over a dam, I have flown near them a number of times. At no point has any warnings popped up, which is a good thing. As I assume the app alerts you if you are approaching restricted air space.

I guess the real test would be trying to take off or powering up when on the dam site itself.