Improving the overall maintenance of the A15 motorway
| The situation
A-Lanes A15, a partnership between Ballast-Nedam, John Laing and Strukton, was contracted by Rijkswaterstaat to widen the A15 between Maasvlakte and Vaanplein under a DBFM (Design, Build, Finance & Maintain) contract. The area includes 37 km of motorway, the Botlektunnel, the Thomassentunnel and the Botlekbrug.
Each year, the A15 A-lane has to demonstrate that the contract requirements are being met and has to produce an annual asphalt repair plan. Visual inspection is therefore crucial and damage must be recorded according to Rijkswaterstaat's visual inspection system (the DWW method).
| The solution
For this project it was important to be able to inspect OPA8 asphalt concrete. This is a fine and open asphalt concrete with a high percentage of hollow spaces (25%). As a result, the mix differs significantly from the normal open top layers, which meant that INSPECH had to undergo additional training. This was achieved in just a few days, enabling INSPECH to inspect the A15 as required very quickly.
| The answer
Thanks to INSPECH, the A-Lanes now have a reliable way of assessing the condition of asphalt road surfaces. Previous inspections, carried out by human inspectors, had resulted in too many inconsistencies between different inspectors. Over the years, the variation in inspection results also made it difficult to create and manage maintenance plans.
| Improving overall road maintenance
INSPECH assesses the condition of roads in a consistent and repeatable way, making it easier to produce maintenance plans and predict the rate of deterioration of infrastructure assets.
In order to meet the contractual requirements, it was important for the client to carry out the inspection as late in the year as possible. For the asset manager, it was essential to be able to access the results at any time in order to plan maintenance. Thanks to INSPECH, better maintenance planning is possible, to the benefit of both parties. The combination of collecting HD video images and inspecting the road surface with INSPECH has cut the project lead time by more than half. This is in line with the desired 'deferral' of the inspection until later in the year.
| Main advantages
- In just a few days, INSPECH can be trained to work on any type of pavement, in this case OPA8 asphalt concrete.
- A detailed and accurate inspection report with no discrepancies.
- A common basis for predicting the rate of deterioration and drawing up maintenance plans.
| Lessons learned
- The combination of HD video capture and surface inspection with INSPECH has cut project lead times by more than half.
- Inspections can be carried out at any time to meet both contractual and practical requirements.
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