A disruptive technology that enables low cost real-time monitoring of road pavement condition by any ordinary vehicle circulating on the road, and automatically designs plans for predictive maintenance.

Project Information

PAV-DT

Grant agreement ID: 853899

DOI

10.3030/853899

Project closed

EC signature date 15 April 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 30 April 2022

Funded under

• Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

Total cost

€ 1 913 007,50

EU contribution

€ 1 450 892,38

Coordinated by

BECSA SOCIEDAD ANONIMA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - PAV-DT (A disruptive technology that enables low cost real-time monitoring of road pavement condition by any ordinary vehicle circulating on the road, and automatically designs plans for predictive maintenance.)

Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2022-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Currently, European road managers spend more than €6.000M/year in road pavement maintenance (approx. 28% of global road infrastructure maintenance (€21.000M/year)). Nevertheless, around 30% of European road pavement is in poor-condition. A section of pavement is in “Poor Condition” when it contains distress (e.g. deformation, cracking, potholes…) of significant severity that could adversely impact the safety of road users. Additionally, this severe pavement distress also causes discomfort while driving, increases travel costs (i.e. travel time is increased because poor pavement conditions force a reduction in speed while vehicle fuel consumption is higher) and also causes damage to vehicles.
For cost-effective preventive maintenance it is necessary to apply the right treatment to the right pavement section at the right time. Making decisions about what specific maintenance activities are necessary based on the actual condition of the pavement is the only way to keep maintenance costs low by avoiding expensive corrective maintenance and eliminating unnecessary preventive maintenance. The main reference parameter for national/regional road pavement condition assessment is the IRI (International Roughness Index) that is determined using specific equipment (Class I profilometers) Our solution (PAV#DT) arises from a perspective in which any vehicle circulating could generate continuous and precise information regarding pavement condition, at a very low cost. PAV-DT is a high precision low-cost hardware configuration that can be installed in any type of vehicle. The information registered by these hardware units is filtered and treated by our innovate algorithms obtaining accurate IRI evaluations comparable to a Class 1 profilometer. In addition to this, PAV#DT is able to deliver specific information on the location of defects, classifying them and indicating their severity.
Thus, PAV#DT will identify the sections that would benefit most from preventive maintenance (the right pavement section), identify pavement preventive maintenance needs in timely manner (the right time) and to select the most beneficial treatment (the right treatment). Widespread adoption of PAV# DT could generate savings of more than €2.806 M per year for European road network managers.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The total duration of the project is established in 36 months. This period includes the work and progress performed from 30th mouth to 36th month.
All WP have been completely developed. Their stage of development is shown below:
WP 1:
Composed of 3 tasks; all three (Task 1.1 to 1.3) were completed before previous annual report. (M1 to 3)
WP 2:
Composed of 5 tasks; all five (Task 2.1 to 2.5) were developed in previous report. (M4 to M25)
WP 3:
Composed of 3 tasks; all three (Task 3.1 to 3.3) were completed before previous annual report. (M1 to M12)
WP 4:
Composed of 3 tasks; all three (Task 4.1 to 4.3) were completed before previous annual report. (M4 to M20)
WP 5:
Composed of 3 tasks; all three (Task 5.1 to 5.2) were completed before previous annual report.
Task 5.3 were applicable for the current report:
- Task 5.3: Final validation of PAV-DT.
WP 6:
Composed of 5 tasks; all five (Task 6.1 to 6.5) were applicable for the current report:
- Task 6.1: Exploitation management
- Task 6.2: IPR and knowledge management.
- Task 6.3: Innovation management.
- Task 6.4: Regulatory oversight.
- Task 6.5: Stakeholders definition and contact.
All these tasks have to be done in parallel to the project and aim to define an effective exploitation and business model to maximise the results and achievements of the project.
WP7:
Composed of 5 tasks; all five (Task 7.1 to 7.5) were applicable for the current report:
- Task 7.1: Congresses and Conferences participation
- Task 7.2: Industry exhibitions
- Task 7.3: Scientific and industrial publications.
- Task 7.4: Networking with international associations
- Task 7.5: Web portal creation.
All these tasks have the objective to define a communication and dissemination plan which is considered vital to maximize the impact of the project.
WP 8:
Composed of 3 tasks; all three (Task 8.1 to 8.3) were applicable for the current year:
- Task 8.1 Technical coordination and quality control.
- Task 8.2 Financial and administrative management.
- Task 8.3 Conflict and Risk Assessment.
All these tasks have to be done in parallel to the project and aim to ensure an efficient project execution leading to the achievement of our objectives.
Overview of the results and their exploitation and dissemination:
After the development of all the aforementioned work packages, an industrialized PAV-DT system has been obtained that allows real-time monitoring of the pavement condition as well as a prediction of the IRI indicator and the establishment of a predictive maintenance plan. All this has been tested on a large number of km of road, allowing full-scale validation of PAV-DT. After this, it has been installed in vehicles of potential customers, facilitating its future exploitation and allowing users to test the final version of the tooling, enabling researchers to collect user experience feedback.
Dissemination work has been carried out throughout the project, receiving a great reception, especially at the four Workshop of the project organized.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

After adjusting the software and hardware system after the first tests, the precision of the results have been improved so that the device is in process to obtain a certification and the final validation and demonstration in operational environment.
This allows the introduction of the PAV-DT system in the market of pavement monitoring systems, thanks to the advantages it offers compared to conventional equipment, fast growth is expected. Within the potential market, we expect to carry out a progressive but high impact market entry as shown below.
PAV-DT will also produce indirect environmental and social impacts. These impacts derive from the PAV#DT application and pavement maintenance costs since; as a result, pavement will present good conservation levels. In this way, it is well known that pavement superficial condition affects directly to road safety. Some European associations estimate that pavement in good condition can reduce 15% of road traffic accidents. Only in 2016, 25.500 road fatalities occurred in European ways and meant a cost equal to 3% of GDP. Thus, in the best cases,
PAV-DT application could decrease in 3.800 road facilities, saving almost 0.5% of European GDP. Additionally, pavement in good condition is also responsible of improving the traffic mobility. Pavement well maintained could reduce traffic traveling time in 34% (max. 13.50€/h) and, at the same time, increase the car lifespan in 25% (less tyre wear, etc.)
Finally, all these indirect impacts are also translated to environmental impacts, since pavement in good conditions could also contribute to reduce road CO2 emissions in 34%, thus decreasing road carbon footprint.

Table of impact market anexed