Maintenance and Construction Management

ITS technologies can be used to keep track of maintenance and construction vehicles such as snow ploughs – so that operators can monitor whether required tasks are being carried out as planned. ITS can also be used to monitor the condition of maintenance and construction vehicles – using on-board sensors to alert users of any required maintenance or repair activities. (See On-board Monitoring and Telematics)

Using Road Weather Information Stations (RWIS) and other similar environmental sensors (whether fixed location or on-board maintenance vehicles), ITS can help collect accurate, localised information about the weather – including road surface conditions. ITS can also help in the processing of the data and in disseminating information to the public. Information from RWIS can help detect hazardous conditions – such as icy roads, high winds, dense fog – and to plan, more effectively, winter maintenance operations and optimise resource allocations. (See Weather Monitoring)

Winter maintenance operations can be supported by systems that monitor and track routes for snow ploughs and grit spreaders – to determine the correct roadway treatment needed. This will be based on current and predicted weather information and information collected from environmental sensors. (See Weatther Management)

ITS can play a key role in helping improve the safety of work zones and construction sites on highways – as well as better manage the flow of traffic through the work zone. Information collected from permanent and temporary ITS monitoring facilities can be used to better control traffic and to provide advisory and warning messages to drivers – for example through dynamic message signs (DMS). The traffic information collected from the work zone can also be shared with traffic operations centres and to support traveller information systems. (See Work Zones)

ITS technologies can be used to monitor the condition of critical infrastructure such as bridges and road tunnels. Information from fixed sensors as well as vehicle-based sensors play a part. One recent idea is to use information from probe vehicles – about their vertical acceleration – to determine the pavement surface condition and detect different types of distress, such as potholes or surface roughness. (See Probe Vehicle Measurements)