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

  • Innovative GIS software offerings
    July 18, 2012
    The latest construction software developments can speed the construction process overall, Adrian Greeman reports Construction software is by its very nature a very fast moving technology, with new systems coming to the market almost continuously. There are some key developments however, such as major new product launches and market trends. One of the most important developments in the road design sector is the launch of the Bentley Systems V8i versions of its software, including its road design applications
  • Developing a road safety decision support system for policymakers
    April 22, 2016
    Limited public budgets means that policymakers today, more than ever, need to able to make decisions that are cost-effective and can bring about the highest return in terms of road safety gains Policymakers put great emphasis on making informed decisions to ensure that the policies decided upon are backed up by relevant studies and research. While there are hundreds or even thousands of relevant studies in the field of road safety, these are dispersed across different countries without any interconnection b
  • Managing resource to create more resilient roads
    June 22, 2018
    As pressure increases on the cost and availability of resources, investment in recycling technology continues to grow across the road building industry. To meet its full potential, a greater understanding is needed of material performance to allow the building of more resilient, sustainable and economic networks - *David Smith explains. Over the past decade, the road construction industry has made significant strides in recycling. Reducing the reliance on virgin materials is of environmental importance,
  • The UK's poor road conditions
    July 24, 2024

    “The results of the National Audit Office report clearly echo those of our Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey reports across the years and confirm what we already know – the condition of our local roads is now at an all-time low and there are significant challenges ahead if we are to see significant improvements.

    “The report consistently refers to the results of our ALARM survey, highlighting its importance as a credible source of data, and the AIA welcomed the opportunity to provide information for review in this process.