Beginning June 5, a specially-equipped van will survey all of Arlington’s public roadways. The survey is part of a new pavement management system that will allow the City’s Public Works Department to manage roadway infrastructure to better evaluate the condition of our streets and to use that information to make optimum use of street maintenance funds.

Applied Research Associates (ARA), a Champaign, Illinois, based pavement engineering and management firm, will conduct the survey and implement the pavement management system for the City. Two ARA vans will survey all arterial and collector streets, and all residential streets. High quality digital images of the pavement surface will be acquired, and the number and extent of all surface defects will be measured and analyzed. The van will also record the amount of roughness and rutting along each street surface.

The survey data will be entered into specially-designed pavement management software database that will be customized for Arlington’s unique combination of traffic, climate and paving materials.

According to Assistant Public Works Director Keith Melton, the software will allow Public Works officials to determine the most appropriate maintenance or repair method for each street, and the optimum time to conduct these activities over a 5-year period.

"Ultimately, the result will be smoother riding pavements capable of carrying the projected increases in traffic throughout the City," Melton said.

In addition to the condition survey, ARA will simultaneously capture high resolution digital images of roadway assets in each surveyed travel lane. The images of sidewalks, curbs and gutters, handicap ramps, street signs, trees, road side signs and fire hydrants will be analyzed for GPS coordinates and other key attributes to help the City maintain its entire roadway infrastructure.

Funding for the $474,072 contract will come from a combination of the Street Maintenance Sales Tax, the Street Maintenance General Fund and Street Bond Funds.

For technical information about survey methods and equipment, contact Paul Foxworthy with ARA at 913-685-8624. For information on the City’s new pavement management program, contact Keith Melton at 817-459-6553.