The norwegian newspaper OA.no wrote this article about one of our cars which is collecting data about road standard in Norway. The article is written by: Tobias Brøste Båkind OA.no and translated into a inglish version

The county’s ”supercar” was the reason why Totenveg moved up the priority list

PRIORITY: This road at Haugkrysset on Kapp (the Gjøvik region) in Norway received long-awaited maintenance as a result of the county’s road survey vehicle. Photo: Screenshot

 

A hypermodern road survey vehicle maps the road standard on all county roads in Vestoppland.

Have you noticed that the quality of the roads you drive on has improved?

Then it is possible that Innlandet County Municipality’s hypermodern road survey vehicle has been on the road.

With new scanners, lasers and cameras, the vehicle takes pictures of all county roads in Innlandet. Every year, the vehicle drives over the approximately 7000 kilometers of county roads in the county to ”scan” them.

DATA: This vehicle collects data on the road standard on the county roads in Innlandet. This data has, among other things, led to the maintenance of a road in Toten being prioritized. Photo: Innlandet County Municipality

 

Traffic safety

Measurement car operator Tom Roar Sveen in Innlandet County Municipality drives the car in Norway’s largest county. He says that the data the car collects is used for many different purposes.

– It is important that these measurements and images are taken annually because we see the development of the condition of our road network, explains Sveen to Oppland Arbeiderblad.

MEASUREMENT: Tom Roar Sveen (in the middle) is one of the drivers of Innlandet’s car with brand new measuring equipment. The car gives the county good insight into which roads need maintenance. Photo: Brynjar Eidstuen/Archive photo

 

– From the measurement data, you can get information about, among other things, the road’s cross slope, curve radius, holes and cracks in the road surface and the quality of the stripe paint, continues Sveen.

This data can be used to plan which roads are to be maintained.

– Based on data from the survey vehicle, we saw that the road standard on Kapp towards Haugkrysset and further in Bjørnsgårdlinna was poor. At that time, maintenance of that road was prioritized over other roads, he mentiones as an example.

The data is also used to map dangerous turns and make them more traffic-safe. The survey vehicle also contributes to better working conditions.

– The 360-degree images we get from the vehicle also make the work of our geologists easier in the event of, for example, landslides in winter because the images show what the area looks like without snow, says unit manager Anne Ingeborg Lilleåsen Nerstad in Innlandet County Municipality.

Safer work

The modern survey vehicle with new scanners, laser and camera is expensive, but has several advantages that make the earnings good.

– We use the images taken by the survey vehicles to take measurements instead of surveyors going out and standing in the middle of the county roads to take measurements. The images also mean that our geologists do not have to go out to drive a drone at avalanches in winter. The photos we take with the car in the summer make employees have a safer working day, continues Lilleåsen Nerstad.

SAFETY: Anne Ingeborg Lilleåsen Nerstad believes that the measuring car contributes to a more efficient and safer working day. Photo: Ole-Johnny Myhrvold/Glomdalen/Archive photo

 

The car results in lower travel costs and travel time in a county with large distances. This means that employees have more time to plan and implement measures.

Head of the Main Committee for Transport in Innlandet County Municipality, Iselin Vistekleiven, believes that the car gives politicians a unique knowledge base.

– The measuring car gives us updated and objective data about the condition of our road network and gives us a completely unique knowledge base. We will use this knowledge when we create a new action program for county roads in Innlandet. We want to get as many measures as possible done on our roads with the resources we have.

 

The article is reproduced in its entirety from oa.no