The Ultimate Guide to Digitally Assisted Road Inspection, Blog 1/5
For decades, road inspections have been carried out by human experts with great attention to detail and a wealth of experience. But times are changing, and the field is facing some intense challenges...
| An ever growing backlog
In the US alone, almost 83% of roads need work. In the United Kingdom the Asphalt Industry Alliance 2023 ALARM Survey, found that “councils face a record £14 billion road repair backlog which it would take them 11 years to tackle without further support. These situations are not unique to the USA or the UK, but can be seen almost everywhere.
The damages range from minor (initial) cracks, to roads that are in such poor condition that they cannot be used. With a lack of time, skilled labor and funding, the backlog continues to grow.
| Costly, outdated tools and a lack of up-to-date performance data
Outdated tools force road inspectors to work with insufficient and low-quality performance data on pavements. This results in a lack of understanding of the condition of the road network. The lack of data insight also makes it difficult to make informed maintenance or rehabilitation decisions that can prevent major repairs in the future.
The only way to get up-to-date performance data is to improve the (digital) tools and use them to solve the challenges, prevent the backlog from growing—and actually make it shrink.
| A Skills Gap that needs to be filled —preferably right now
Road inspection is a job that traditionally can only be done by people with the right skills and experience built up over the years. But as experienced inspectors retire, there is a shortage of qualified people to take over. Globally, we are seeing a shortage of well-trained road inspectors, leading to the so-called skills gap.
These are real challenges, but they can all be solved if you have access to the right tools and information. These blogs have been written to help you do just that.
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Next Blog (2/5): Sharing is caring, but own your data.