TotalPave Talk #3 – In-House Data Collection

Moving road condition data collection in-house

Are you looking to collect road condition data in-house? In this TotalPave Talk, we discuss how TotalPave can make that jump easier and help you maintain control of your data.

Bringing data collection in-house can give your organization more flexibility, faster access to results, and more control over how your road network is updated over time.

Stage 1: What do I have?

Knowing what you have from a road asset standpoint is fundamental to collecting data in-house.

You do not want to waste time collecting data on roads you are not responsible for maintaining. You also want to make sure your road segmentation remains static, as discussed in TotalPave Talk #1.

Consistent segmentation is important because it allows your organization to compare road condition data year over year. If the underlying road sections keep changing, it becomes harder to understand how each asset is improving, declining, or staying the same.

TotalPave can help with this stage by providing shapefiles of your road network or assisting with your existing GIS centreline data.

Stage 2: What condition is everything?

Once your road inventory is established, the next step is deciding what type of condition data you are going to collect.

At TotalPave, we generally recommend sticking to standard condition measures. Standards make it easier to train staff, compare results over time, work with consultants when needed, and maintain a consistent historical dataset.

If road condition data collection is new to your organization, your team will need to learn the collection methodology. TotalPave can support that process with annual webinar training for data collection methods and technology use.

Training materials are also available through the TotalPave web portal. Once your team gains experience, you can move more of the training process in-house as well.

Flexible users and internal control

With TotalPave, you do not need to worry about user limits or waiting on a technician to make basic account updates for you.

Your organization can add as many users as needed, at any time, directly within the platform.

This makes it easier to involve public works staff, engineering staff, seasonal staff, or other internal team members who may be helping with collection, review, or planning.

Faster access to your data

One of the biggest benefits of in-house data collection is that you get access to the data as soon as you collect it.

There is no need to wait for a consultant to process data or prepare a report before you can begin reviewing results. If you need condition data for a street, your team can go out, collect it, and analyze it the same day.

The same applies to updating your network. If you collect data in the spring and pave a section in the summer, you should not have to wait until the next survey cycle, or pay for another full survey, just to update that section.

With TotalPave, you can update your account yourself from your phone or desktop once the segment has been paved.

Stage 3: Put the data into your pavement management plan

After your road condition data has been collected, the next step is using it to support your pavement management plan.

TotalPave makes it simple to export your data with a few clicks. Data can be exported to shapefiles and spreadsheets for use in GIS tools, general asset management systems, or other planning workflows.

TotalPave also provides PAVER-specific export capabilities for organizations that use PAVER as part of their pavement management process.

From there, you can work with your data directly to make planning decisions, or import it into another software platform for further analysis.

In-house collection gives you more control

In-house data collection is not just about reducing reliance on outside surveys. It is also about giving your organization more control over its road condition data.

With the right tools, your team can manage the road inventory, collect PCI and IRI data, update paved sections, add users, export results, and keep your pavement management data current throughout the year.

We hope you enjoyed this TotalPave Talk. In the next talk, we will show how easy it is to export your data from TotalPave.