Latest LCRIG webinar will look at how data can be used to improve winter services and asset management planning

Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) members and the wider sector can now register for a webinar which will examine how the use of data can improve winter service delivery and asset management planning.

The event, which is being delivered in association with Gaist and Safecote, will examine the following topic areas:

• Challenges facing winter services teams
• New technologies for collecting data
• Using data to inform asset management plans
• Importance of uniting maintenance and winter teams
• Making plans for winter

Winter services operations play an important role in ensuring that highway networks are safe and available during adverse weather conditions.

In a period where local council highway authorities have less money to spend, but public expectation of the services they are responsible for remains high, it is necessary to ensure that any activity associated with winter is carefully managed.

At the same time councils must keep an eye on the condition of the roads they’re responsible for. Adverse weather can clearly have an impact on this so how can local authorities ensure that the data they are gathering has a direct correlation to asset management plans?

The basic components of any weather prediction system are road weather stations, a data storage facility and data display software, usually web or app based.

In the UK considerable use is also made of road specific forecasts provided by forecast agencies. Data can also be exported from these systems into other ITS systems, VMS signs and to the public internet.

Now live data gathered from cars that are using the road network can also be used to provide key information on their condition. For example, the coefficient of friction of the road surface based on the amount of water, ice or snow on it.

This helps local authorities build a picture of the condition of the roads they’re responsible for.

Ultimately this can then help winter service practitioners because they’re being provided with real-time data on a road’s condition – therefore helping to inform decisions over gritting schedules, salt stocks, road maintenance, etc.

The discussion entitled ‘Using data to improve councils winter operations and inform asset management plans’ will challenge local authorities to examine the way in which they’re using data and how it can be used to inform both winter maintenance and asset management plans.

Panellists include:

• Steve Birdsall, CEO of Gaist
• Mark Dutton, Managing Director at Safecote
• Björn Zachrisson, Business Development Manager Road Perception, NIRA Dynamics
• Iain McDonald, Network Resilience Manager at Transport Scotland
• Adrian Runacres, consultant

The event is taking place on 7 July at 11am and you can register here.