InfraTech for non-destructive inspection, pavement management, and road condition survey

Image courtesy Fons Heijnsbroek on Unsplash

Policy approach(es) used to catalyse investment: Support the infrastructure owner’s data-driven decision making  

Technology approach(es) used to catalyse investment: A change in data standards/architecture

Conventional inspection of the past was carried out by inspectors conducting visual inspections in close proximity to structures. Typically, there were individual differences in the recording of damage at the site depending on the skill level of the inspector. By using technology originally developed for highway bridge inspection to carry out inspections of infrastructure such as railway tunnels and building façades, NEXCO is delivering objectivity and accuracy of records to better support the infrastructure owner’s data-driven decisio-making as well as address traffic restrictions, enhance safety, and significantly reduce the time required to collect data on-site.

The following are examples of the application of NEXCO's non-destructive structural assessment technologies:

• NEXCO-West USA Non-destructive inspection business) - NEXCO-West USA attempts to improve the efficiency and sophistication of maintenance management by utilising concrete slab inspection methods that use infrared cameras and image diagnosis technology capable of inspections at speeds of 100 km/h. It also attempts to improve the efficiency and sophistication of concrete structure inspections, which have been conducted manually, by applying infrared cameras and image diagnosis technology.
• NEXCO-Central Smart Pavement Management) - Pavement images captured by commercially available action cameras are processed by AI to display a five-level pavement health rating in colour on an online map, making pavement maintenance planning and decision-making more efficient and faster, in an easy-to-understand and low-cost manner.
• E-NEXCO INDIA (E-NEXCO Eye) - Pavement inspection using lasers, 3D cameras, and line sensor cameras at speeds from 0 to 100 km/h will improve the efficiency and sophistication of maintenance management and contribute to keeping high quality roads.

Replicability

The technology is originally developed for highway bridge inspection, and is now used for the other types of infrastructure such as railway tunnels and building façades.

Challenges experienced/overcome in implementation

Understanding the benefits and limitations of non-destructive structural assessment technologies is important and challenging. It is like an X-Ray in the medical exam – an attempt to find an indication of a problem but may not necessarily specify the exact problem with 100% accuracy. On the other hand, a detailed destructive test requires a tremendous amount of labour and traffic interference to obtain the very accurate information for limited number of structures. The users need to understand the purpose of their condition assessment (network level assessment or project level detailed assessment) and select the best choice.

Other approaches that enabled investment

There was a change in technical standards.

Note: This case study and all information within was submitted by the NEXCO-West, NEXCO-Central, E-NEXCO in response to our global call for InfraTech case studies.