Skip to main content

Advanced road drainage system

An advanced approach to maintenance is helping ensure that the UK county of Kent keeps on top of road drainage. Kent Highway Services (KHS) has a network of some 8,400km of roads and drains, which requires a fleet of vehicles to maintain and support. In order to keep traffic moving and avoid flooding hazards for motorists, road drainage systems have to be consistently monitored and maintained. Previously this was carried out on a reactive basis, but this has proved to be neither cost effective nor efficient
April 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
An advanced approach to maintenance is helping ensure that the UK county of Kent keeps on top of road drainage. Kent Highway Services (KHS) has a network of some 8,400km of roads and drains, which requires a fleet of vehicles to maintain and support. In order to keep traffic moving and avoid flooding hazards for motorists, road drainage systems have to be consistently monitored and maintained. Previously this was carried out on a reactive basis, but this has proved to be neither cost effective nor efficient. To manage this task more effectively KHS needed to capture data about locations and conditions of the drains in order to plan cost effectively for maintenance and repairs.

Using geographic information system technology (GIS), 212 esri UK worked with KHS to make this information readily available. Using ESRI UK's ArcPad solution, KHS can now access and record exact locations of drains and conditions and ensure maintenance is carried out without unnecessary costs. The GIS technology allows KHS to calculate efficient routes depending on the location and condition of the drains. This enables efficient maintenance, whilst improving the safety of the highways and reducing vehicle mileage.

ESRI now has a full case study of Kent Highway Services work with the firm and can provide insight into how GIS is becoming a cost effective and vital resource.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Smart road test facility in Virginia
    July 28, 2015
    A test stretch of road in the US is playing a valuable role in developing technology and boosting traffic safety -*Tom Gibson writes Located a short distance from the Virginia Tech campus in the mountains of rural southwest Virginia in the mid-Atlantic region of United States, the Virginia Smart Road looks like a conventional road. But venturing to either end of the 3.5km-long thoroughfare reveals that it actually goes nowhere, at least for now. The result of a plan conceived back in the 1980s, the Vi
  • Lindsay argues the case for reversible lanes over adding lanes
    June 26, 2018
    Build new lanes or use existing lanes more effectively? In a recent US study* commissioned by Lindsay Transportation Solutions, the company argues the case for reversible lanes. The level of future uncertainty in transportation planning - specifically in addressing congestion on urban freeways - has increased significantly over the past few years. The impact of connected and autonomous vehicles on traffic flow, of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) initiatives, particularly the car-sharing elements, and exciting
  • Clearview magnetometer trial detects alternative to loops
    October 1, 2019
    An UK investigation into the performance of Clearview Intelligence’s magnetometers as an alternative to inductive loops on MIDAS installations has concluded they deliver like-for-like results.
  • Attachment options for milling
    July 31, 2024
    New milling attachments are now available