Tel: 028 3884 9187
Tel: 028 3884 9187 |
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Case Study 1.0Richhill Castle, Richhill, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Richhill Castle is understood to be one of the first unfortified castles ever
to be built in Ireland. It was built circa. 1665, by Major Edward Richardson
on a hill and over the years its name was shortened to Richhill, thus giving
its name to the settlement that grew up around it. It is also a Grade A listed building awarded in recognition of its national
importance within Irish history and its fine architecture. Unfortunately after
nearly 350 years of exposure to the sometimes harsh elements of Northern Ireland's
winters, the roof is in need of some major repair. We were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to photograph the many
roofs, valleys and chimneys and record their condition before any major overhaul
of the building begins. It is the first time low level aerial photography has been used to photograph
the roof of the castle. As you can see in this photograph of the Castle's front elevation,
it has many towering Dutch gables making it very difficult to see
the roof slopes, valley gutters and flashings from the ground. Other means of obtaining access to photograph the roof were not
possible for the following reasons: Ladder and roof ladders - not a safe method of working for taking
photographs and the height would not be sufficient to look down
on the building. Mobile scaffold tower - to comply with health and safety regulations
the minimum width of a tower 22m high would have to be about 7 metres
- far too cumbersome. Access Platform - ones that reach 22m were too large to access
or operate in the confines of the grounds to the rear of the property
- 3.1m working width 8.3m long gross weight 7.5 tonnes. How We Did It We divided the building into 4 segments, based on the elevations and then positioned
our vehicle and system at 5 different locations around the building - we call
them set up points. At each set up point, the mast and camera were extended
to at least 23 metres above ground level. Initially a general photograph of
the roof slope arrangement was taken (see Photo. 1.0) and this photograph
was used to identify the areas to be inspected. Once the configuration of roof
slopes, chimneys, valley gutters etc. was determined, the camera was maneuvered
and zoomed in on a particular roof slope configuration (see Photo 2.0).
This gave a bird's eye view of the area from which areas of disrepair could
be identified. Something that is just not possible from ground level (see Photo
3.0). Once areas of disrepair were identified from Photo 2.0 the camera was remotely
maneuvered and zoomed to view those areas of interest. At all times a live video
feed was being fed to a monitor at ground level. If a particular area warranted
a photograph, an annotation was entered into our operator's computer and a photograph
taken. Within just a few seconds the photograph was displayed on the screen
so it could be checked for quality. [The annotation is useful when reviewing
the photographs at a later date] This process was repeated at each set up point. A few of the defects found from set up point are shown below, none of which
are visible from the ground. The images below are all re-sized low resolution which allow this page to download
as quickly as possible. The actual images taken are all 10 mega pixels and high
quality. Set Up Point 1
Set Up Point 2
General Photos Of Other Roof Areas
A Selection of Some Other Defects Not Visible From Ground Level
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