HOT SEAT
At the centre of ARRB’s pavement data collection operation is the ASTM E-1656 compliant Network Survey Vehicle fleet
Intelligent pavement management and big data Maintaining and preser ving South Africa’s paved and gravel road network is crucial for society and the economy. IMIESA speaks to Yesh Balaram, General Manager, ARRB Systems Africa, about how his company's technologies are redefining automated road assessments. What are some of your career highlights to date? YB Being in charge of disruptive technology in the pavement engineering and asset management environment is both challenging and engaging. This brings about research opportunities that one would not find in a typical workspace and I am constantly learning new things. I have authored various peer-reviewed papers and have had the opportunity to travel extensively to share my experience at conferences and seminars around the world. It’s always a pleasure to network and socialise with both new and old industry peers in a foreign land. This is all possible
Yeshveer Balaram, General Manager, ARRB Systems Africa
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IMIESA August 2020
The Roughometer 3 is a Class 3 IRI roughness measurement device suitable for both sealed and unsealed roads
because I am surrounded by exceptional people – from the young, talented and resilient team that I lead, to my accomplished mentors and visionary leaders. What’s the current state of South Africa’s paved road network? While our national roads are comparable to the best in the world, our provincial and municipal road networks are generally in an advanced stage of deterioration. A vast number of roads are well beyond their original structural design life. There is an ever-increasing maintenance backlog, which threatens transportation logistics, increases road-user costs and reduces road traffic safety. To further exacerbate these dynamics, the already constrained funding earmarked for road maintenance is being ineffectually utilised. This is largely due to a lack of credible and pertinent road condition information and inappropriate or non-existent road asset management implementation. The net result is that whole life-cycle management strategies are not applied. This obviously has a direct influence on our economic output. Road traffic accidents for example, cost the economy around R160 billion each year! How is ARRB helping to address the challenges? At the centre of our pavement data collection operation is the
ASTM E-1656 compliant Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) fleet. The NSV has various subsystems that work in unison to collect comprehensive surface and functional road data. What sets our NSVs apart from other similar equipment is the fact that all subsystems are genuinely integrated and controlled through a single data acquisition and processing software system called Hawkeye. This structure allows for a seamless spatial integration of all collected data streams including GPS, high-resolution imaging, 3D laser crack measurements (LCMS); geometry, such as slope, grade, horizontal/ vertical curvature; and surface profiles, such as texture, rutting and roughness. The system operator (and others) can monitor all data streams in real time for quality control purposes. Our intelligent Pavement Assessment Vehicle (iPAVe) and intelligent Safety Assessment Vehicle (iSAVe) have the same capabilities as the NSVs, but with the added ability to measure continuous pavement deflection and skid resistance, respectively. How do these technologies influence asset management practices and maintenance budgets?
