AP to create database of all R&B roads

Vijayawada, Feb 24 (INN): In efforts to make Andhra Pradesh's road network the best and well-connected in the country, the state government has undertaken a mammoth task to create a database of all the R&B roads in the state.

In this regard, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu flagged off today the Multipurpose High Technology Network Survey Vehicles belonging to the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB). These vehicles, first of its kind in India, will be used for collection of high-quality data on asset related parameters on R&B roads in Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Minister also took a trail run from the CM Camp Office on the vehicle, while the representatives of the ARRB briefed on the functioning of the system.

The data collection from Multipurpose High Technology Network Survey Vehicle includes the collection of physical features like road carriageway width, shoulder width, road boundaries, location of road furniture, bridge/culverts, locations etc. It also captures pavement conditions like potholes, cracks, edge breaking, rutting, road surface undulation etc. All the information is geo-tagged. The data collection of the entire road network will be completed by August 2016.

This data is collected by using a Hawkeye network survey vehicle fitted with digital laser profilers, digital cameras, GPS system, crack detection equipment and data acquisition system. During the data collection, one more vehicle fitted with Falling weight Deflectometer will also be used to collect pavement structural deflection to assess the strength of the pavement.

The output from the Network Survey Vehicle and data collected will be used to configure the road database of the whole R&B road network in AP. It can also be accessed by various R&B offices for planning, design, operation and maintenance management.

This comes in line with the formation of the AP Road Management System under the AP Road Sector Project. AP Road Development Corporation of R&B Department has taken this up this initiative with World Bank Loan Assistance.

The Road Management System will be operational for various outputs like rolling out plans such as annual road condition reports, annual performance reports, prioritization of annual maintenance and road improvement plans together with yearly budget proposals. All the reports required for decision makers are presented systematically in tabular form, graphical form, map-based and dashboard form.

The introduction of AP Road Management system in the R&B department helps scientifically, prioritization of roads for improvements or maintenance, based on available funds or to allocate budget, need-based.