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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: LOGON: Drone Graffiti Removal
HEADLINE: LogOn: Washington state tests drones to remove hard-to-reach graffiti
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 06/11/2024 at 9:10am
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Lakewood, Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR:
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Scott Stearns
SCRIPT EDITORS: pcd, MAS
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA, WSDOT
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 1:57
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[A drone equipped with a painting hose is being deployed against stubborn graffiti in hard-to-reach areas. Natasha Mozgovaya has more in this week’s episode of LogOn.]]
((NARRATOR))
Along Washington state’s highways, there is a never-ending battle between taggers and transportation crews whose job is to clean up offensive or distracting graffiti.
((Radio intro: Mike Gauger is with the Washington state Department of Transportation))
((Mike Gauger, Washington State Transportation Department))
“Sometimes when I see graffiti and where they've gotten it - I wonder how they got there.”
“I saw the waste of resources ((Mandatory CG: WSDOT)) and the challenges of sending my employees, up to walk on very steep ((end courtesy)) embankments sometimes needing fall protection.”
((NARRATOR))
Mike Gauger, a maintenance crew supervisor with a background in aviation, ((Mandatory CG: WSDOT)) began looking for a solution. ((end courtesy))
((Mike Gauger, Washington State Transportation Department))
“There's got to be somebody out there probably making a drone that will spray paint.”
((NARRATOR))
Aqualine Drones agreed to take on the challenge.
((Mandatory CG: WSDOT)) The Connecticut-based company specializes in drones used to wash skyscraper windows. For the graffiti cleanup, Aqualine created a drone prototype with a paint sprayer used to cover the graffiti. Transportation officials say it takes two staffers to do the job compared to the six workers needed to do the job before. ((end courtesy))
((Mike Gauger, Washington State Transportation Department))
“This is a tethered drone. On the back side there you can see a port that a standard paint sprayer hose will hook to. <..> You can feed it as much hose as you wish.”
((Mandatory CG: WSDOT)) “We have one person at the controls. <..> And somebody is in charge of just monitoring the paints ((end courtesy)) because the aircraft is up there flying. ((Mandatory CG: WSDOT)) As this bucket becomes low or empty, ((end courtesy)) we have a person assigned to swap it out so we can keep painting as long as we have battery life.”
((NARRATOR))
Washington State spent $815-thousand dollars to cover about 700,000 square feet of graffiti last year, prompting state lawmakers to pass a bill that earmarks $1 million to develop new ways of dealing with an old problem.
[[FOR RADIO: Washington State Representative Andrew Barkis says the anti-graffiti initiative marks a breakthrough.]]
((State Rep. Andrew Barkis, Washington State)) ((via Zoom))
“We'll never stop graffiti. It goes way, way, way back, you know, thousands of years. But I think this bill will allow us at least to get in front of it, clean it up.”
((Mandatory CG: WSDOT)) Deploying a drone is fast and cheap, and it can paint over large surfaces.
((NARRATOR))
The transportation department’s drone team will file a report on the initiative by the end of the year. ((end courtesy)) Gauger says while the cost savings is a bonus, the real achievement is making the crews’ jobs much safer.
((Natasha Mozgovaya, VOA News, Lakewood, Washington
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