A hi-tech vehicle is currently travelling the Island’s highway network undertaking the annual road condition survey on behalf of Island Roads.
The Road Assessment Vehicle is surveying the condition of all the network accessible to it – around 95 percent.
The data collected helps Island Roads prioritise which roads will be treated in order to fulfil the requirement to keep the average condition of the overall network up to the standard required by the PFI contract.
This year, the inside of the vehicle has been modified in light of the Covid-19 pandemic with the introduction of a Perspex screen to separate the driver from the operator of survey equipment.
Mark Roberts, Island Roads asset manager, said: “Though the road assessment scanner is not necessarily slow moving, we wanted residents to be aware that it will soon be out and about as it is rather a distinctive vehicle.
“It will be surveying all the roads that are wide enough and long enough for it to be effective in – all but 40 kilometres of the network for which we are responsible. The remaining roads are surveyed using different methods.
“The survey examines the condition of the road surface and will identify and measure defects including cracking, potholes and rutting.
“This data is then added to other information we collect on the condition of the network and all of this is used to help determine where and when we undertake road improvement work and also the type of treatment that is most appropriate.”