Optimizing Low-Volume Road Network Performance Through Improved Management, Design, and Construction

2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 299-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. Van Zyl ◽  
M. G. Henderson ◽  
H. G. Fourie
Keyword(s):  
Management System ◽  
Road Network ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Systems Design ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Road Management ◽  
Gravel Roads ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
Gravel Road ◽  
Design And Construction

The Provincial Administration of the Western Cape in South Africa is responsible for 18,900 km of proclaimed roads, of which 10,500 km are unsurfaced. A formal gravel road management system has been in operation since 1989 that assists in prioritizing projects for regraveling and upgrading gravel roads to surfaced standards. Because of fund limitations for upgrading gravel roads to surfaced roads, there is a need to optimize performance of the gravel road network and maximize use of knowledge and latest research results for southern Africa. Staff shortages and loss of in-house expertise made external assistance necessary to improve service to road users. Processes formalized, implemented, and planned for this purpose included ( a) upgrading the gravel road management system to quantify benefits, prioritize activities, and select maintenance and improvement measures; ( b) appointing consulting engineers in each district to help manage borrow pits, materials design, training, construction supervision and quality control, maintenance planning and control, and performance monitoring; ( c) communication about project priorities, construction programs, work methods, construction team performance, and activity costs; and ( d) development of an operational web-enabled system to manage all activities related to unsurfaced roads. Within 1 year, a remarkable difference in gravel road performance was observed without a significant reduction in productivity. Total transportation costs were lowered with only a marginal increase in agency costs. Continuous communication among system operators, design engineers, project managers, and construction teams is considered one of the most important aspects in optimizing performance of the Western Cape low-volume road network. This study highlights the most important changes in management, systems, design, and construction and the practical innovations responsible for the successes achieved as a potentially valuable aid to those involved with providing and maintaining low-volume roads.

Simplification of HDM-4 Economic Models for Network-Level Gravel Road Management Systems

2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 318-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. F. Burger ◽  
A. van der Gryp ◽  
G. D. van Zyl ◽  
H. G. Fourie
Keyword(s):  
Management System ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Maintenance Strategies ◽  
Road Management ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Calculation Results ◽  
African Context ◽  
Maintenance Personnel ◽  
Gravel Road

A description is provided of the procedure followed in the gravel road management system (GRMS) of the Provincial Administration: Western Cape (PAWC) for determining scheduled maintenance priorities and upgrade to paved standard priorities for gravel roads. An algorithm was developed that takes account of a number of factors to determine the costs and benefits of PAWC’s two maintenance strategies. Cost and benefit streams are further used in the calculation of the internal rate of return (IRR) for the different maintenance strategies. Prioritization in the GRMS is based on the calculated IRR, and the priority lists are further refined through a consultative process involving maintenance personnel, the community, and head-office decision makers. As part of the implementation of the algorithm, Highway Development and Management System version 4 (HDM-4) equations for the calculation of vehicle-operating cost (VOC) were simplified for application in the southern African context. Results are presented of a comparison between the output of the simplified HDM-4 equations with the output of HDM-4. Conclusions reached show that implementing the procedure described had a number of positive consequences. They include that the prioritization of projects is based on sound principles that result in the effective and responsible use of available funds. It was also concluded that the simplified HDM-4 VOC calculation results compare well with HDM-4 results.

scholarly journals Comparing Different Equipment and Applications in Pavement Data Collection as Part of Road Management System

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Arjol Lule ◽  
Shkelqim Daja
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Management System ◽  
Road Network ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Road Infrastructure ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Management

National roads are the main arteries in road transport infrastructure. Therefore, all agencies or authorities responsible of road infrastructure, pay attention to road management systems. Albania is experiencing an increase in road infrastructure investments and maintenance of this road network. There have been some attempts to establish national and secondary road management systems. These systems attempt to achieve different objectives, such as the provision of an adequate level of service, the preservation of the road infrastructure, etc. A good Road Asset Management System (RAMS), helps to carry out all the actions of inventory, storage and maintenance of road assets as well as, supports the decision-making process. At present, there are several data collection devices and applications that carry out the job efficiently. The purpose of this paper is to present the analysis of the use and comparison of some equipment and Cell Phone Based Systems (MiniROMDAS, PaveProf-V2 and RoadLab_Pro) used for the road pavement data collection, necessary in the calculation of the International Roughness Index (IRI), along the national road network in Albania. The comparison is made, by analyzing the data and results obtained along a 20 km long road segment in Albania, using the various above-mentioned technologies. Also, an overview of the currently available technologies providing information that could assist managers in establishing an appropriate data collection program is given.

The challenges faced by Tanzania`s Road Organization in running Maintenance Management System and Pavement Management System effectively

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 119-129
Author(s):  
Richard R Mwaipungu ◽  
Dhiren Allopi
Keyword(s):  
Management System ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Maintenance Management ◽  
Road Maintenance ◽  
Pavement Management System ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Users ◽  
Gravel Roads ◽  
Loss Prediction ◽  
Gravel Road

Running or developing the local MMS or PMS, be it for unsealed or sealed pavements, needs a team of well-trained and experienced road organization staff and appropriate equipment. The data employed to run a gravel roads MMS should reflect the capacity of the road organization personnel to collect them. In this regard, the team should be of adequate size, education and experience. It is, therefore, essential for the benefit of road users, road organization, the environment, and the sustainability of gravel roads to establish the capacity of road organization personnel responsible for running gravel road maintenance management with the intention of meeting social, economic, and political demands.The need to establish the adequacy of Tanzania road organizations in running gravel road MMS and PMS was the reason for conducting the qualitative research aspect of this study. The survey also intended to find out which parameters are readily collected by the surveyed road organizations, so as to include them as variables in formulating a gravel loss prediction model.This paper presents analysis and discussion of the questionnaire responses. The study notes the challenges being faced by road organizations responsible for the maintenance management of gravel road network in Tanzania and attempts to map a way forward.

Meeting Challenges of Rural Road Management Caused by Decreasing Population and Changes in Industrial Structure

2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Parantainen ◽  
Antti Meriläinen
Keyword(s):  
Road Network ◽  
Industrial Structure ◽  
Production Structure ◽  
Road Management ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Traffic Volumes ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
Permanent Residents ◽  
Basic Level ◽  
Adequate Condition

The most pronounced characteristics of rural development in Finland in the 1990s include the concentration of population in cities as well as changes in the industrial and production structure. Outlying areas of eastern, northern, and central Finland have experienced the most significant absolute and relative decreases in population in recent years. A 73% share of state-owned public roads and private roads (the lowvolume road network) is located in the areas of decreasing population. Traffic volumes will decline on low-volume roads as rural population decreases and will significantly affect the economy of low-volume road management in the future. In the areas of decreasing population, the greatest problem is to maintain the low-volume road network in adequate condition with reasonable costs to serve permanent residents and the transport needs of agriculture and forestry. The most important measures for meeting the challenges of decreasing population include the allocation of sufficient funding for the management of low-volume roads, which will provide for the basic level of service to meet the necessary needs of citizens and enterprises. Furthermore, a system of “just-for-need road management” should be adopted more widely in the management of low-volume roads. Through this system, the scarce financial resources of public low-volume road management would be allocated as efficiently as possible to meet demand by time and location. It should be noted, however, that savings through just-for-need road management are not necessarily significant, and in some cases costs may even increase. For this reason, each low-volume road segment should be examined separately.

Development of a Relational Accident Database Management System for Mexican Federal Roads

2000 ◽  
Vol 1717 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-93
Author(s):  
Alberto Mendoza ◽  
Aristóteles Uribe ◽  
Claudia Z. Gil ◽  
Emilio Mayoral
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Information Systems ◽  
Management System ◽  
Database Management ◽  
Road Network ◽  
Data Exchange ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Database Management System ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
The Ideal

Two years ago, the Mexican Transportation Institute began to develop a computer-based management system of the information collected by various organizations about accidents occurring on the Federal Road Network. This system combines the information gathered by these organizations with the purpose of completing and validating the data so that tools can be developed for processing and analyzing the validated data and the processed data and developed tools can be made available to users. It was decided to support the development of such efforts on computer databases already being generated, on database processing and management software, on geographic information systems, and on remote data-exchange systems (e.g., the Internet). The progress made so far in the development of the computer system is reviewed. The system has been named the “Relational Accident Database Management System for Mexican Federal Roads” (SAIACF, in Spanish). The information sources beneficial to this project are identified and analyzed. The ideal scheme conceived for the integration of the various information sources is presented, and the SAIACF system is outlined. Some of the results obtained after its application to the information corresponding to 1997 are shown. Also, the element that was generated to make the information and the tools available to users is described, and conclusions are drawn.

scholarly journals Sustainable Maintenance of low level road network

2018 ◽  
Vol 196 ◽  
pp. 04063
Author(s):  
Jan Mikolaj ◽  
L’uboš Remek
Keyword(s):  
Network Management ◽  
Management System ◽  
Road Network ◽  
Road Networks ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Network Management System ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Local Road

Main goal of Road Network Management System is to ensure safety and continuity of road traffic on road network with low intensity and lower technical requirements. This is achieved with pavement management system (main component of road network management system). Most countries developed custom Pavement management systems (PMS) based on deterministic or probabilistic approach. Local road administrators of low level road networks often lack the software equipment such as HDM-4, RoSy, Exor, etc. These and similar PMS Most PMS, however effective, are often cumbersome, demanding in regard to energy, know-how and software equipment. The majority of local road administrators of rural road networks thus resort to non-effective reactive maintenance strategies. This article describes an easy to use method, based on predetermined maintenance repair & rehabilitation standards. Secondly, a simple method, based on road user cost, is introduced that administrator can use to prepare a list of road section eligible for repair according to their repair priority.

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