Hertfordshire County Council is running trials of an AI technology to identify areas of road that could benefit from preventative maintenance before potholes appear.
It has been using Robotiz3d’s ARRES Eye AI camera, which is placed on a roof rack at the back of a vehicle to scan for early signs of potholes of cracks in road surfaces.
Defect dimensions, location and the severity level are displayed onto a remote screen in near real time to help highway engineers plan road resurfacing programmes.
The council said that initial tests took place on a short route last year, and that the technology is now being subject to a long term test, multiple times on a trial route over several months. Its team hopes to identify early warning signs of deterioration.
It is also working with Robotiz3d scientists to refine the technology.
Pothole challenge
Cllr Phil Bibby, Hertfordhsire’s executive member for highways, said: “We know that our residents care about roads and pavements in the county and the changeable weather we’ve had over the last few months, including excessive rainfall and long periods of colder weather, all contribute to potholes appearing and a decline in road surfaces.
“We know the challenge of fixing potholes will remain and we will continue to tackle this through our highways maintenance schemes, but we also know that prevention is better than cure – so trialling technology like this that can prevent potholes forming in the first place is also an important part of our long term strategy.”
