Automation helps map out SAFER, WELL-MAINTAINED ROUTES

ARRB Systems has steered the market as a technology leader in road condition assessment equipment since the 1980s. IMIESA speaks to Yeshveer Balaram, chief services officer, ARRB Systems, about the pressing issues and the hightech responses.

What are some of ARRB Systems’ major influencers and innovations over the years?

YB While our heritage lies in research and development, our trajectory has been shaped by responding to and determining market requirements. We provide automated road assessment and evaluation technology, such as the Hawkeye 2000 Digital Laser Profiler, the Intelligent Pavement Assessment Vehicle (iPAVe), and the Intelligent Safety Assessment Vehicle (iSAVe). What sets us apart from traditional original equipment manufacturers is that we are also the largest users of our equipment, undertaking automated road condition assessments as part of our service offering. Our Hawkeye Platform, which includes the Processing Toolkit™ and Insight™, presents a fully integrated solution providing a unique analysis and viewing capability of pavements –from both a surface and structural perspective.

How have these technologies added value to the economy and society?

The adoption of contemporary technology, in general, is a key driver of economic growth!

The positive impact of utilising state-of-theart technology in the road transport sector, compared to traditional methods, results in quicker, more accurate and more economical condition assessments, enabling the identification of distress long before symptoms appear on the surface. This enables the identification of proactive, cost-beneficial, preventative maintenance options, which in turn results in significant savings to the fiscus on national, regional and local levels.

Early and accurate detection of road condition distress mechanisms provides for more effective pavement analysis and, in turn, timeous pavement management decisionmaking abilities, which has been difficult, if not impossible, using traditional methods. This also permits the optimum use of resources, ensuring limited resources are used effectively, which maximises output and minimises costs.

What degree of influence will machine learning and artificial intelligence have on ARRB Systems’ current and future software/ technology developments?

Machine learning and artificial intelligence enable road engineers to make more informed decisions due to the elimination of subjectivity inherent in visual condition assessments. This results in full repeatability of largevolume data processing at high speeds and accuracies, and allows the engineer to focus his/her energies on the other tasks. We are currently implementing machine learning in the evaluation of road safety surveys and road condition network-level assessments. Our objective is to attain at least a 1 000% improvement in assessment efficiency. This will not only enhance the accuracy of our outputs, but also realise savings in the value chain, so the process is more cost-effective.

How extensive is South Africa’s roads maintenance backlog and what are the implications?

The backlog is currently in excess of R4 trillion and increasing all the time. If this is not addressed in the short term, there will come a point in time where the backlog will become irretrievable. The only possible way to start reducing the maintenance backlog, while simultaneously addressing current remedial interventions, is to initiate robust pavement management based on optimised and prioritised condition data produced by automated collection systems. This will result in optimised available road maintenance budgets and increased intervention kilometres per rand of expenditure.

Can ARRB’s solutions help improve road safety?

Absolutely. ARRB Systems’ technology is used to identify unsafe road sections at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional safety assessments. This information is used by road safety practitioners to undertake networklevel safety assessments and identify the inherent level of risk in each road. The data is then used to implement countermeasures to improve road safety and ultimately save lives The net result of undertaking automated road assessments is a safer road network and a saving to the fiscus.

What are some of ARRB Systems’ recent and current projects?

While we are active across provincial networks in South Africa, our global team is also established in Australia, India and Singapore. Most recently, we have welcomed the National Department of Transport Infrastructure in Brazil, which has appointed ARRB Systems to undertake a fully comprehensive assessment of their national road network. We have also recently completed an iPAVe structural assessment for VTI in Sweden and FTIA in Finland, and approximately 8 500 km on various state road networks in the USA.