Mobile 3D laser scanning system (MLS) – this is the latest achievement of laser technology and one of the highest technological photography methods today.

MLS is largely reminiscent of surface laser scanning (VLS), but unlike VLS, the MLS scanner, which is mounted on a car transport, is in motion.

No other method provides such or similar execution for obtaining and compiling spatial information with absolute accuracy of the first centimeters.

MLS can be installed on automobiles, ships, railway platforms and on other means of transport. Scanning is carried out at a distance of several hundred meters in all directions. The density of the points depends on the speed of movement and the distance to the object and can fluctuate sno one to thousand punts per 1 sqm.

SV solutions owns one of the world’s best mobile 3D laser scanning systems (MLS) and the latest software provider Siteco PRO.

The main areas of application of MLS

Road and rail:

Cartography and creation of databases of the entire infrastructure (signs, traffic lights, separating lines, etc.)

Quality checks of the road surface and monitoring of its offsets after a certain period of time

Creation of a three-dimensional road surface and earthbed model with the aim of developing a project for the construction, reconstruction and repair of the motorway

Clarification of defects in the road surface (grammes, potholes and cracks, actual longitudinal and transverse inclination of the road surface)

Creation of models of three-dimensional infrastructure objects, road passporting, GIS, performance surveying, creation of longitudinal and transversal profiles, etc.

Electrical energy:

Creation of three-dimensional models and topographic plans of CHPs, HPPs, open switchgears and substations, power transmission lines

Architecture and urban development:

Creation of three-dimensional models and city quarters, GIS of architectural monuments, preservation of cultural heritage and architectural monuments

Survey (monitoring) of architectural objects of urban infrastructure

Oil and gas industry, metallurgy and heavy industry:

Creation of three-dimensional models, topographic plans, measurement of the execution of industrial enterprises, compressor substations, open exhibitions

Technology advantages

Significant economy of funds compared to traditional surveying methods

High accuracy and detail of the data received

Increased safety when performing geodetic work at hazardous objects (high-voltage power plants, railway lines, chemical plants)

High mobility (the system can be installed on any vehicle)

High mobility (the system can be installed on any vehicle) construction, reconstruction and repair project

Types of finished products

Topographical survey of linear objects (roads, railways, bridges, tunnels) with the possibility of coordination of monitoring (organs of architecture and urban development) and in operating organizations

Creation of 3D models of objects, streets and settlements

Creation of longitudinal and transversal profiles of the motorway

Longitudinal and transverse gradients of the carriageway

Digital model of terrain and digital model of road surface

Creating a road, rail or airport runway passport

Assessment of areas of vision

List of road signs, road enclosures, information and advertising panels, etc. creation, with photo attachments and options for checking passport parameters

As well as other types of work at the request of the customer…

Mapping technologies, GIS programmatic provisioning and consulting services in accordance with changing rules.

The suite of products for airports has benefited from Siteco’s expertise in the development of mapping technologies and programmatic provision, a shared experience gathered and carefully thought out in a road environment over more than 10 years and over 40,000 km of maps.

Mobile mapping systems The Road Scanner is effectively integrated along with the new equipment designed to meet and meet the requirements of airport regulations.

The most interesting innovative solution factor is the integration into the ESRI ArcGIS system, which provides complete control over all survey and maintenance activities in the context of their mapping. Thanks to this, it is possible to get an idea of the infrastructure as a whole and an immediate consultation on the state of repairs, and planned and taken measures. With the help of specific functions, the user can plan maintenance measures, but therefore can effectively optimize both operating expenses and the life of the cover.

Siteco’s proposed solution includes:

MMS Road Scanner’s sophisticated technology, which is realistically equipped to provide mapping even at night, thus preventing interference with air traffic;

TRoad-SIT PMS application, which is fully integrated into the powerful ESRI ArcGIS mapping system, providing monitoring and decision-making features for the analysis of Maintenance programs related to the Status Indicator;

Permissible loads in structures when performing mapping and project analysis.

Signs of road-SIT PMS can be classified in the following way:

Hazard Risk Analysis – This module provides advice on data collected using the Road Scanner, namely high-resolution images, laser scans, scans obtained with the help of the Ground Screening Radar, as well as longitudinal roughness data obtained with the help of a profileometer. This module provides mapping of all functional cover defects recorded in the system relational database, performs monitoring activities, also using “mobile” equipment, such as PDAs, tablets, etc. The coverage condition index is calculated according to ASTM D 5340 standards, and the output values are updated based on the maintenance activities performed and the results of the survey.

Data Management System – Road-SIT PMS is designed to obtain all the data collected using various sensors installed in MMS and also other types of data obtained during testing performed on airport coverings (e.g. friction and allowable load data). According to the available data, the system calculates indicators of specific status for various homogeneous sections of the airport. These sections are divided into zones of constant surface. GIS images allow you to perform instant control of various parameters.

Decision Management System – This system includes maintenance technologies used by various airports, allowing the creation of customized maintenance programs. Any activity can be associated with the results that can be achieved through the use of structural surface defect resolution capabilities and also related expenses. By modeling different maintenance strategies, the user can choose to perform the best interventions. After that, the system ensures the management of all activities to be performed and the recalculation of various indicators of the result of the executed intervention.

Road-SIT Airport PMS is based on the organization of specific information layers of the GIS system that correspond to all PMS data: vehicle mapping routes, mapping determinants and permissible loads in the surveyed areas, PCI zones, corresponding mapping data and their processing. The GIS system also provides a definition of zones that categorize airport infrastructure according to a precise hierarchical organization.

Infrastructure breakdown and hierarchical organization

For rational maintenance of the pavement, all covered surfaces are divided into different zones based on the hierarchical principle of different levels, known as the Pavement Grid Map. The first level consists of operating areas (branches), which have various functions: treadmill, steering path, links, parking, service paths, etc. These zones, in turn, are divided into Homogeneous sections, i.e., sections with similar design features:

Construction period;

The thickness of the screed and the status of the permissible load;

Traffic and load level in general.

This division is essential to define the decline curves of each section and to decide on the most appropriate maintenance activities to be performed.

Each section is further divided into an adequate number of elementary zones of a constant area (300-400 m²), which are defined according to various indicators that are associated with them (PCI, roughness, permissible load, friction, etc.). For each zone, the destruction indicator is assessed for a number of structural or functional aspects.

Mapping a road scanner

The trajectories performed by the MMS pathway scanner are recorded in an additional layer, making it easier to consult on the data collected. These trajectories provide identification of the cartography of the route displayed in the photographic database, which is being reviewed, and vice versa, it is also possible to select the most suitable photographic database and check the area. The surface of the airport is covered by the Road Scanner vehicle on parallel routes at a distance of 4 5 meters. As for runways and steering paths, the direction of mapping is controlled by a special programmatic provision that helps the driver maintain a constant direction.

Map surface degradation status

Defects are classified in the catalog according to the specifications of ASTM D6433/2003 with the help of a special menu that helps the user to access the level of rigidity. One of the most interesting components of the proposed methodology is the visual detection of defects, which is facilitated by reviewing the data obtained by profilometers and laser scanners.

The photographic database viewing environment integrated with GIS ArcView ensures optimal navigation across all mapped data and also in the fault database. At all stages, the operator can check the activities performed in the mapping system.

All detected defects are represented in an additional layer that refers to the associated geometry (for example: hole points, broken cracking lines, cracking polygons, lows, grooves). Based on defects that are wholly or partly attributable to the CPI zones, it is possible to calculate the corresponding indicators and display them in accordance with the limit values of the ASTM specifications. The application software also allows you to view the surface defects of each individual PCI zone.

View maintenance status

All mapping results are displayed in ArcGIS and can be immediately displayed on the map display or rendered numerically. In this way, it is possible to display characteristic permissible load values (PCN/PDO, flexible modules, layer thickness), PCI indices, longitudinal roughness, etc. Thanks to this type of representations, intervention activities can be carried out quickly and efficiently.

Manage the intervention catalog

With the help of this application software, it is possible to define different management catalogs. The available databases can be integrated by applying the Tendera specification. Each catalog allows the user to organize interventions by type, such as structural or functional intervention, reconstruction, or localized intervention. This organization has a twofold goal of improving the organization of interventions and at the same time providing a system with methods for calculating the costs of each intervention. For each intervention, the user can define expenses per unit and specify lists of defects, since the intervention can also resolve any remaining defect after maintenance.

Breakdown of interventions in relation to coverage

In order to analyse the costs and extend the life of the surfaces covered by the airport, it is necessary to select the zones and/or homogeneous sections for which specific intervention should be granted. This assignment can be done by selecting a schedule directly into the GIS programmatic provision, or by filtering zones and sections through appropriate queries to the database according to priority criteria. This allows you to create a Maintenance Plan that contains maintenance for interventions that are selected in the catalog. If the same intervention belongs to different planes, the BPS operator can define different maintenance plans and compare them by expenditure, time allocation and useful life of the infrastructure.

Decision support tools and Deceleration curves

The system also provides tools to support decision making by modeling various maintenance strategies, CPI calculation, and derived subsidence curves. Special features allow users to assign subsidence curves to homogeneous sections, as well as define a time chart. It is then possible to compare the theoretical subsidence curves with those derived from the observations made during the monitoring phase. Based on these results, it will be possible to calibrate the specific curves of different homogeneous sections.

Road-SIT AM is a Road Information System on Road Inventory and Asset Management, designed to meet the needs of road authorities (public administration and road companies) in accordance with the local and European regulations in force on the subject (European Community Standard on Navigation Databases GDF – Geographic Data Files, ISO14825:2004 – and European Road Administrator Data Exchange Format – RADEF – standard for data exchange between different national administrations).

In addition to the features of managing and maintaining the assets of the basic module (Road-SIT Explorer), Road-SIT is an excellent tool for storing network data, monitoring the state of the road network and supporting decision-making.

From the inventory of roads, which includes geometric data (plano-altimetric routes, sections, retaining walls, etc.), to the cartographic organization inside the GIS system, all aspects of maintenance and administration are integrated into a common structure focused on:

Sharing all information between all sectors involved in the maintenance of the network;

updating the database due to the computerisation of each of the sectors involved;

Monitoring of the conservation status of various infrastructure components;

Rationalization and optimization of economic resources;

Road asset management;

Monitoring and improvement of road safety.

Organizational, logistical, and technical problem-solving functions are part of the Global Roads Service, along with specific applications for maintenance management and job enumeration (PlaNET WEB STR SpA Gruppo 24 Ore).

System architecture

Road-SIT includes a well-organized and flexible alphanumeric and GIS application software complex that covers all the operational needs of road management, i.e. road assets and diagrams, signs, licensing, advertising activities, infrastructure work, accidents and so on. The architecture of the system includes:

Asset Management

Road-SIT Explorer, the bundle’s main module, provides management, consulting, searching, and editing of all road assets. It offers a very user-friendly interface, similar to the Windows Explorer interface, with a complete and flexible set of features. In particular, the navigation tree through the hierarchical organization of all elements allows access to the following:

Roads, a very useful function to represent intersections, branches, etc.

Road assets grouped into families (e.g. bridges, galleries and walls belong to the family of infrastructure works).

Departments, classification based on the division into territorial zones, typical of many administrations.

All information relating to the positions selected in the tree is displayed in the grid. It is very convenient to edit the list of path features and interact with the database using powerful search, filtering and sorting functions. In addition, certain items of road features can be associated with any online file: images, scanning, notifications, technical drawings, electronic calculation tables, metric calculations, etc. You can view this file later using the associated Windows application software.

Connections to GIS

Road-SIT is integrated along with the most well-known GIS platforms, providing instant geographical contextualization of road inventory, viewing of routes, circuits and images. It is also used to render road assets, to display and modify all alphanumeric data.

More operators can connect to the WEBGIS (Road-SIT WS) module and share mapping data using the same GIS license. Graphical representation of road assets is carried out through dynamic segmentation, i.e., the calculation of geographical coordinates of a specific chain.

The diagram editing module provides road calibration as well as perfect management of deviations between milestone circuits and actual path lengths.

Geo-reference image database and Google Earth connection

Road-SIT Explorer allows you to view images of geographical references mapped with a mobile mapping system, as in a virtual survey. Cameras can be switched one at a time – together or in a synchronized way to view a two-way map.

The axis of the path can be positioned using Google Earth. This function is especially useful when working without cartography, or when it is necessary to control the zones next to the mapped path.

Road-SIT Survey: Photogrammetry and Measurement of Dense Point Sets

Road-SIT Survey is a powerful module designed to display images of geographical references in dense clusters of points mapped with the Road Scanner’s mobile mapping system. This ensures accurate measurement of distances, perimeters or zones adjacent to the mapped road. The main signs of this module are as follows:

Synchronization of all used cameras in the selected circuit;

Partial overlapping of dense sets of dots on images;

Measurements made on image frames, in mono or stereo photogrammetry mode;

A snapshot of the measurements of dense sets of points.

Road-SIT Survey is also available as an AutoCAD or Esri ArcGIS plug-in for storing all mapped geometry data directly in CAD or GIS database.

Manage road signs

Road-SIT Signs is a special module designed to manage road signs and markings by recovering data from a database of road funds. The carefully structured database includes administrative and installation data, as well as related administrative documents. Administrative documents are associated with marks, and this ensures the registration of all licensing notices, the removal, postponement and appropriate printing of Word or PDF documents. These notifications can then be viewed from any workstation. This application software has a special interface designed to make all information about the selected sign available at the same time, for example, as a graphic image and a snapshot of the sign, and to use the subtle functions of the Explorer module to group, search or sort data.

For easy insertion or updating of signs, the module includes a catalog of all signs obtained according to international codes. Several standard and customizable notification templates are available. They may be adapted on the basis of the needs of the managing authorities.

Road-SIT For Mobile Devices

The Road-SIT kit uses a variety of mobile mapping technologies according to the required purposes. Road-SIT Mobile is designed to view and update road inventory using a tablet that has copied part of the database. This local database is then synchronized with the central system with the help of the Road-SIT SYNC application software.

The main purpose of Road-SIT Mobile is to provide the Technical Office of the Public Administration to conduct on-site inspections and update road assets. To achieve this, in addition to the characteristics of the Road-SIT standard, this module includes special features for working on the spot and synchronizing the mapped data with the centralized database. Technical support can be a normal laptop, notebook or tablet.

Road SIT-Mobile provides mapping of the position of road assets. The position of the point is detected with the help of GPS and immediately displayed in relation to cartography.

The product line, dedicated to pavement analysis, is a natural consequence of the company’s experience in mapping technologies, the production of road maintenance vehicles and inventory, a vast expertise that has matured over 10 years, performing more than 400,000 km of mapping.

The company “SV solutions”, in cooperation with RTU (Riga Technical University), conducts research and works on the development of universal software for processing data obtained simultaneously from mobile systems (MLS), georadars (GPR) and unmanned aerial vehicle data (BPLA).

The mobile mapping system’s road scanner is directly integrated with the new equipment focused on surveying the condition of pavement repair, while the Road-SIT PMS application software has been completely reorganized to ensure efficient management of activities with respect to road assets. The most interesting innovative factor of the solution is the integration into the ESRI ArcGIS system, which provides full control over all data collection and management activities in the context of their mapping. Thanks to this, it is possible to get an idea of the infrastructure as a whole, quickly and conveniently view the state of repairs, planned and performed interventions. Thanks to special features and interfering with management programming, the user can effectively optimize operating expenses and obtain an objective assessment of the quality of possible improvements for coverage.

The solution offered by SV solutions includes

The system also provides tools to support decision making by modeling various maintenance strategies, CPI calculation, and derived subsidence curves. Special features allow users to assign subsidence curves to homogeneous sections, as well as define a time chart. It is then possible to compare the theoretical subsidence curves with those derived from the observations made during the monitoring phase. Based on these results, it will be possible to calibrate the specific curves of different homogeneous sections.

The sophisticated technology of the mobile mapping system’s road scanner, thanks to which measurements can be made even in places where there is poor lighting or none at all, for example, in tunnels;

Road-SIT PMS application software, which is fully integrated with the powerful ESRI ArcGIS mapping system, provides monitoring and decision-making features for the analysis of Maintenance programs that are related to Status Indicators;

Additional mapping of longitudinal and transversal roughness, friction, allowable load and/or base sampling in the case of a motorway or on request due to specific infrastructure conditions.

The methodology has been developed with a fundamental contribution from the University of Bologna – DICAM (Department of Civil, Ecological and Materials Engineering). The following are the key phrases of the process.

Definition of a complete catalog of surface defects

All road surface defects are pre-classified according to the catalogue defined in ASTM D6433/2003 specifications. Each defect is represented by a measuring parameter and geometric characteristics that determine the severity of defects.

Complete fault mapping with high-performance MMS technique

The dimensional parameters and sensor required for mapping and measurement are defined for each type of defect. A specific application software partially overlays visual data collected through mapping with data generated from other sensors, such as dense point sets of a laser scanner. All geometric data of defects are geologically benchmarked and it is possible to make measurements of coordinates, lengths and areas. All data is stored in a geographical database, can be viewed and tested in a GIS environment, they are partially covered with photographic databases.

Calculation of maintenance status indicators

In addition to the IRI index mapped to the profilometer, other status indicators are identified in accordance with international standards. Particular attention is paid to the Coverage State Index, which is also recognized at the national level. The applied calculation algorithms are processed automatically, starting from the fault database, the PCI values for road zones that have a constant length, to provide synthetic data on the maintenance status. This index is then used to provide synthetic notifications for all road assets or for an individual road.

Provision of maintenance status and notifications in support of decision-making

PMS provides synthetic status indices with a GIS environment and displays defects in the circuit, organizing them by type. It is possible to insert representations derived from external sources, such as the interference made with historical data, traffic data and also meteorological data.

Maintenance intervention database definition

All interventions that may have been made with respect to road features are summarized in the catalog and divided into two main categories:

General or restoration interventions at different depth levels suitable for dissolving surface or structural defects (e.g. reinforcement, partial reconstruction, restoration)

Specific interventions defined to restore surface characteristics and road surface functionality in case of defects such as gramba filling, patches, filling cracks, partial coating of the plan

The catalogue is adaptable and therefore possible to include interventions according to the needs and work habits of the consumer.

The relationship of road maintenance interventions with road assets

Each intervention is associated with the corresponding section of the path with the help of GIS tools or indicating the chain. The choice of the intervention to be performed remains with the designer, who can perform rapid modelling in different zones or for different types of interventions in order to obtain modeling and estimate expenditure. Conversely, if the designer first selects defects that need to be eliminated as a matter of priority, the application software processes the optimal interventions from a technical point of view.

Estimating maintenance expenses and modeling CPI recalculation

The system treats the surface of roads or the calculation of the details of defects for selected routes. Since each intervention is associated with unit expenses, the system calculates the expenditure of an intervention or intervention complex grouped into programs. Based on the selected intervention, the system recalculates the value of the status index. Thanks to this modeling, the optimal choice is based on the economic element and on the technical improvement of the state of maintenance.

Regular monitoring and updating of the fault database

Pavement defects can also be controlled with other types of tools: video systems that are suitable for standard cars or “mobile” systems for accurate checks of demarcated areas.

Road-SIT Road PMS consists of 3 modules:

Defect Analysis: It includes, within the GIS editor, the visualization and management of feature mapping data obtained with an MMS path scanner or from external sources.

Maintenance management: It provides intervention in the definition of the catalog and their organization in the maintenance plans; it also calculates the expenditure for each intervention or the total expenditure of each plan.

Decision-making support: It is specifically dedicated to the production of statistical synthesis statements using data collected in the defect database in terms of calculating the Status Index and modeling various maintenance strategies.