21st Century Non-Paved Roads OPTIMIZED GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Roozbeh Rashedi, Ph.D., P.Eng. VP-Technology, Infrastructure Solutions Inc. 2019 OGRA Conference
Gravel Roads Who cares?
GRAVEL ROADS 60% of public roads in Canada are gravel - 626,000 km 53% of the national road network in the U.S. is gravel - 2.6 million km Routinely, gravel road segments have up to 400 vehicles per day They are the poor cousin and typically receive less management attention compared to paved roads. They are critical for product transport; the lifeblood of agricultural communities; only access to remote communities and recreation areas; serve mining and forestry; and serve local residents, especially in semiurban and rural areas.
ALL SEASON GRAVEL ROADS ARE OPENING UP NORTHERN CANADA Existing Trans-Taiga Road (Quebec) 666 km North Road (Quebec) 406 km Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk (Northwest Territories) 137 km Under Construction Shoal Lake 40 First Nation Freedom Road (Manitoba) 24 km East Side of Lake Winnipeg (ESLW) Road (Manitoba) 1,000 km Planning East-West All Season Road (Ontario) 400 km Bathurst Inlet Port and Road (BIPAR) Project (Nunavut) 227 km James Bay Coastal All Season Road (Ontario) 390 km James Bay to Hwy 17 All Season Road (Ontario) - 200 to 350 km Tlicho, All Season Road to Whati (NWT) 97 km James MacKenzie/Canadian Press
GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT Maintaining gravel roads is a major activity for many municipalities and requires regular interventions to provide safe and smooth roads for users Municipalities spend millions of dollars every year on gravel road maintenance and rehabilitation activities Is this money spent effectively? Do we know?
What is the current state of Gravel Road Management?
2017 SURVEY OF GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT PRACTICES GOAL: To capture state of practice of gravel road management in Canada 97 Canadian municipalities responded Representing 40,000 km of gravel roads Published 2017
STATE OF GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT IN CANADA The majority of municipalities do not collect condition data about their gravel roads. A perceived lack of benefit from a time and cost investment perspectives Lack of a simple gravel road management system to help with condition assessment and data collection
RECORD KEEPING IS GOOD The maintenance history records can be used within a gravel road management system to monitor deterioration rates and inform management and maintenance strategies.
Other Findings STATE OF GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT IN CANADA Gravel road management highly depends on individual and local knowledge Frequency of maintenance activities varies based on traffic volumes, local conditions, user complaints and subgrade strength Almost all municipalities with more than 50 km of gravel roads saw a great value in having software tools to assist with gravel road management
Other Findings STATE OF GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT IN CANADA Gravel road management highly depends on individual and local knowledge Frequency of maintenance activities varies based on traffic volumes, local conditions, user complaints and subgrade strength Almost all municipalities with more than 50 km of gravel roads saw a great value in having software tools to assist with gravel road management
Other Findings STATE OF GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT IN CANADA Gravel road management highly depends on individual and local knowledge Frequency of maintenance activities varies based on traffic volumes, local conditions, user complaints and subgrade strength Almost all municipalities with more than 50 km of gravel roads saw great value in having software tools to assist with gravel road management
What should a gravel road network management tool look like?
Desired Features of a GRMS manage inventory, condition data, and maintenance history of their gravel roads in conjunction with their paved roads; establish refined priority policies using network-wide priority settings based on various physical attributes, in addition to socio-economic factors for individual road segments; specify detailed routine maintenance polices based on local knowledge or pre-set schedules; incorporate robust gravel loss models to allow prediction of the need for and extent of re-graveling operations; identify when gravel roads should be upgraded to surface treated; compare the longer-term impacts of multiple scenarios with different policy and budget settings; and generate a 10-year capital plan with road lists, budgeted costs, annual schedules, and map visualizations.
GRAVEL ROAD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (GRMS)
CONDITION SURVEYS RECORDING THE DATA
Predicting Deterioration Rates Predicted Annual Gravel Loss (mm/year)=ff(ttrraaffffiicc, pprreecciippiittaattiioonn, mmaaiinntteennaannccee, rrooaadd ggeeoommeettrryy)
UPGRADE DECISIONS Other Considerations: Structural Capacity Drainage Traffic Characteristics Road Geometry Opinion of Local Residents
Optimized Gravel Road Management Using DOT
DOT: Dashboard Visualizations
DOT: GIS visualization and data analytics
DOT: Optimization & Scenario Comparison
DOT: Optimization & Scenario Comparison
Thank You for more information on DOT (Decision Optimization Technology) and gravel road survey please contact: roozbeh@infrasol.ca