Talk Description
Institution: National Transport Research Organisation - Australia
There is a push for transport on the road network to be as efficient as possible, with the number of large heavy vehicles increasing on the road network. Several recent projects which have been undertaken for Transport Agencies were noted to have a key theme, which is the need to improve the understanding of what is happening on the road network, especially for these larger vehicles. This sort of information is important for several departments within the road operators, including the structures team, asset management, operation, compliance and enforcement. The work which has been undertaken all looked at different aspects of improving this information. Most of the work boiled down to merging and enhancing of current datasets to provide additional context and the ability to utilise for different applications. Examples of this included the extrapolation of WiM data to classifier sites and the use of cameras on structures to determine whether loading may have been exceeded. This highlights that technology can be integrated to enhance decision making, utilising technology which wasn’t installed for that purpose. However, it draws attention to the fact that they were installed by a department for a purpose. If there is collaboration between the departments, a purpose-built system could be developed with integrated sensors, allowing for technology to have the required frequency, accuracy, etc. for each department.