Yotta DCL geospatial innovation.......

30 August 2007, 9:32am

Yotta DCL geospatial innovation underpins Cheshire's exceptional highways management

Highway surveying specialist Yotta DCL is providing Cheshire County Council with a range of innovative surveying services to build comprehensive GIS datasets. The Council is not only the first in the UK to specify continuous ground penetrating radar surveys to assess pavement condition but also is the first to use a new Yotta DCL road sign retroreflectivity service. Cheshire County Council is regarded as a leader in carriageway and footway management, with Yotta DCL delivering crucial survey data to support the maintenance and upgrade programmes for a 4900km road network. The contract is potentially worth up to £2.5m over 5 years.

All the individual surveys performed by Yotta DCL result in encyclopaedic levels of information. Cheshire County Council is able to use this information to make very accurate decisions about budget allocations for repairing or replacing assets and it is also able to continually develop other essential
information tools such as its GIS datasets.

For highly detailed analysis of pavement subsurfaces, Cheshire has been utilising Yotta DCL's ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys. This innovative survey technique provides Cheshire with accurate depth information that can be used to enhance the deflectograph with greater accuracy. The deflectograph is a
fully self-contained lorry-mounted system that measures roadsurface deflection at given intervals in both wheelpaths while the machine is in motion.

Yotta DCL's GPR takes the guess work out of trying to understand the construction of the road, quickly identifying defects. GPR is now being requested by engineers prior to beginning roadworks so that they have a clear picture of what they are likely to meet below the road surface.

Yotta DCL's contract covers a large majority of surveys required by Cheshire’s Highways department. This is an extensive portfolio that includes automated surface condition surveys using Yotta DCL's ARAN SCANNER vehicle; coarse and detailed visual inspection (CVI and DVI); sideway-force coefficient routine investigation machine (SCRIM) testing and deflectograph assessment of the structural condition of flexible and flexible composite pavements.

Yotta DCL is also undertaking inventory inspection and recording;

Supplying the required information for the National Road Maintenance Condition Survey;

Safety fence inspections;

Road sign surveys, which includes
retroreflectivity.

All survey data collected by Yotta DCL is validated and then uploaded by the surveyors into the Council's information management system, remotely via the Cheshire Remote Access Gateway.

Yotta DCL won the contract on a competitive tender basis, the tenderers having been pre-assessed for quality of service. Yotta DCL has the ability to provide information that gives Cheshire County Council a complete and multidimensional view of its network and associated assets. This extensive contract is managed by a dedicated team of Engineers at Cheshire County Council.

Highway maintenance and management of all assets clearly is a high priority for Cheshire County Council. It is a diverse county with both urban and rural areas and so a first-rate road network is essential. The area is also a popular tourist destination with a wide range of visitor attractions, in
particular the City of Chester, and,therefore, roads have to accommodate high traffic volumes in the peak holiday seasons.

"We have always set high standards for our network management and with Yotta DCL providing surveying services we have access to high-quality data. Yotta DCL understands our needs and we enjoy a close working relationship," says Kelvin Badger, Engineer, Cheshire County Council.

"Working in partnership with Yotta DCL has shown improved quality of surveying and programming whilst still being cost effective," adds Gwyn Roberts, Engineer, Cheshire County Council.

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