If you see a white van covered in cameras driving around the Tamworth region over the next four weeks, there's no need to be suspicious.
It's simply involved in survey of road conditions being undertaken to help Tamworth Regional Council more effectively plan maintenance of the region's 1600 kilometres of sealed roads.
Tamworth Regional Council Manager Engineering Services Graeme McKenzie said the specially equipped vehicles will survey all sealed roads across the region.
"The vehicle uses high accuracy lasers and cameras to measure the condition of roads - down to minute details," he said.
"This information gives us a general picture of the state of our road network, identifies problem areas, and will be used to model the time it take for deterioration to occur so that Council can optimise how and when to maintain each road."
Mr McKenzie said using contractors with vehicles equipped with the special technology allows the roads to be surveyed much faster and more accurately visual inspections only using the human eye.
