Cutting edge technology is being used to assess the condition of Victoria’s flood-ravaged roads.
Victorian Roads Minister Melissa Horne said the Australian Road Research Board’s Intelligent Pavement Assessment Vehicle would be used to assess the condition of more than 8400 kilometres of the state’s roads in the wake of recent floods and rain.
One-hundred-and-twenty roads across the region will be assessed including the Hume Hwy, Murray Valley Hwy, Calder Hwy, Northern Hwy, Dookie-Shepparton Rd, Dookie-Violet Town Rd and Euroa-Shepparton Rd.
Multiple sections of the Midland and Sunraysia highways have already been assessed.
The collected data will help plan for upcoming large-scale repairs and road maintenance.
“We’re using the latest technology to make sure we deliver the repairs needed right across our roads following the devastation caused by recent floods and extreme rainfall,” Ms Horne said.
“Already, crews are making a start on delivering large-scale, long-term repairs and this data will help to plan for further works, ensuring that the communities hit hardest by these floods remain connected to vital supplies and services.”
Equipped with a range of data collection systems, iPAVe can check the structural and functional condition of the road, using laser technology developed in Denmark to look at characteristics including roughness, surface texture and rutting.
Cracking and other surface data is assessed using an automated 3D monitoring system, while cameras mounted to the truck’s exterior will give road maintenance experts a first-hand look at the state’s road network.
Thanks to an on-board ground-penetrating radar, the iPAVe can also collect sub-surface data at the same time, giving experts a better understanding of what’s happening underneath the road surface.
These datasets are collected at the same time, in one trip, at highway speed, making the iPAVe a cheaper, faster and safer way to collect information.
Data collected by the iPAVe will then be compared with similar information collected in 2021 to gauge the full impact of the recent floods.