Roads across the Southern Grampians Shire will be assessed using the latest technology next month as the iPAVe (Intelligent Pavement Assessment Vehicle) comes to town.
The iPAVe is the first fully integrated road surface and sub-surface condition assessment system in the world and is one of only 16 vehicles of its kind world-wide. Council, with assistance from ARRB (Australian Road Research Board), are bringing the unit to the Southern Grampians to survey selected roads across the Shire's network to assess their condition.
The technology within the vehicle allows it to collect and assesses various pavement condition data in a single pass including road signs and also road markings. This provides improved accuracy of assessment when compared to current methods which are a manual process largely based on visual surface assessments.
The high accuracy and resolution of the iPAVe enables engineers to pin-point areas where the pavement may be subject to failure.
Council's Manager Assets Rohit Srivastava said having the iPAVe in the shire is a valuable opportunity.
"The analysis from the iPAVe data will assist Council's engineering department to target the pavement failures and determine corresponding treatments. It will help us make more informed decisions which will ultimately mean better utilisation of Council's resources.
"We have been working closely with ARRB on the project and we're really looking forward to the valuable opportunity of having the iPave vehicle here to assist us in managing our road network more efficiently", Mr Srivastava said.
