Pilot Project No. 2 – Use of Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems for Gravel Road Monitoring

Details

• Creators:
  Oguntoye, Kunle ; Sourav, Md Abdullah All ; Mitra, Rajrup ; Jenkins, Abby ; Ceylan, Halil ; Kim, Sunghwan ; Gulmezoglu, Berk ; Mo, Yunjeong (Leah) ; Brooks, Colin N.
• Corporate Creators:
  Iowa State University. Program for Sustainable Pavement Engineering and Research (PROSPER) ; Iowa State University. Institute for Transportation
• Corporate Contributors:
  Iowa. Department of Transportation ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Aggregates Corrugation Crown Decision Making Drone For Gravel Road Distress Detection Drones Dust Evaluation And Assessment Feasibility Analysis Gravel Roads Infrastructure Loose Aggregate Maintenance Pavement Corrugations Pavement Distress Pilot Studies Potholes Remote Sensing Roads Rutting Uncrewed (unmanned/Unpersonned) Aircraft Systems Unmanned Aircraft Systems

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  InTrans Project 24-904
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Iowa
• Edition:
  Task Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Iowa State University. Institute for Transportation
• Abstract:
  According to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), gravel roads account for more than 30% of the total road network in the United States. Although these roads typically carry low volumes of traffic, they play a critical role in transporting goods, providing access to essential services, and connecting to larger highway systems. A 2012 USDOT study reported that gravel roads in Iowa make up 60% of the state’s public road system, representing nearly 70,000 mi of roadways. Similar to paved roads, gravel roads are prone to various types of distress that, if not addressed promptly, can lead to cost-prohibitive maintenance and reconstruction. The sustainability of the overall health of these roads is crucial for ensuring smooth traffic flow and reducing traffic-related accidents. Since the vast number of gravel roads and their remote locations make close monitoring a significant challenge, in this study, we explored the feasibility of adopting small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUAS) for remote sensing of gravel road networks. We also explored distress detection through the development of geographic information systems (GIS)-based proof-of-concept toolboxes that help quantify specific types of distress, including potholes, rutting, corrugation, loose aggregate, and improper crown (cross-section). In this experiment, we also considered methods for monitoring dust, a non-depth-based gravel road distress. Promising results from combining sUAS applications with the developed prototype toolboxes indicate that substantial time can be saved on gravel road inspections using the proposed workflow compared to traditional manual inspections. Moreover, based on the quantified distress data provided by the proposed workflow, county engineers and Maintenance personnel will be better equipped to make informed decisions regarding maintenance needs.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:74a8a0245a644edd465e1db9971eda4e7def0c0e4c6c9cdd9f2abac5d04c049c1808f31403d56bdaaa70fc6e195fa30232966fc0ba09589def9702182500bfaf
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91882/dot_91882_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.55 MB ]