Transport infrastructure
Highways
Network level
Fugro Aperio can help clients deal with a range of issues at route or network level. Our pavement team has considerable experience in working with the latest technologies, having pioneered the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) at traffic speed. Backed by the Fugro group, who are world leaders in the development and use of automated technologies, we are now able to offer a '3 in 1' survey, comprising SCANNER, GPR and asset data collection using the advanced ARAN platform.
Another notable innovation is the REVEAL Construction Database which provides a route for highways clients to pavement construction data that is quick, easy to use and highly cost-effective. Our database contains GPR records of pavement thickness and structure for a considerable and constantly-growing proportion of the UK road network. The surveys are mostly conducted up front and free of charge and you can check online to see if the sections you want have been surveyed yet. If the section you want is there, just place an order and our team will process and deliver the results: no lengthy procurement process; no traffic management to arrange and no long wait for the results.
Because network level surveys are conducted at traffic speed, data density is relatively low, (typically samples at 0.5 m to 1 m centres from a single wheelpath) and reporting is relatively lean to avoid overloading clients’ pavement management systems. This means that if more detail is required, for example on pavement condition within a proposed scheme you should consider a bespoke survey.
Typical applications of network level surveys include populating pavement management systems with structural data to help prioritise further testing, identification of schemes and generally helping to optimise future maintenance management.
Schemes / Projects
Where you need more detailed information than a network level survey can provide a bespoke scheme investigation may be the answer. Fugro Aperio can provide a detailed picture of the structure and condition of the pavement. Deliverables from detailed GPR surveys include pavement thickness and structure, void and delamination mapping, joint structure and condition and subbase moisture.
Typical applications of detailed pavement surveys include failure investigation, inputting continuous layer thickness data into falling weight deflectometer (FWD) back-analysis and detailed information into scheme designs.
Streetworks and Utility Mapping
Fugro Aperio can help clients involved in activities such as utilities maintenance and urban tramway construction by providing a valuable picture of the subsurface. The subsurface of urban roads and footways in most countries is a complex network of buried cables, ducts, pipes and sewers; best practice and legislation place obligations on contractors to gather information before digging.
Fugro
Aperio teams are qualified and experienced in the streetworks environment.
Most of the team are trained in traffic management and in confined spaces working.
Fugro Aperio can help make streetworks more safe, efficient and cost effective by providing a detailed picture of the subsurface for use before, during and after the construction phase.
At the planning stage, an investment in a survey using electrodetection (cable tracing) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) can provide information on the pavement construction and the position of services buried within and below it. The results of such a survey can be invaluable, for example when planning the best routes for new infrastructure, or for checking for shallow services ahead of pavement recycling works.
At the construction phase, Fugro Aperio can improve safety and efficiency by marking out services ahead of the construction team. With the advent of the 2008 Traffic Management Act (TMA) and comparable legislation in other countries any steps that reduce the risk of delay and traffic disruption are clearly of great value.
After the work has been completed we can provide verification that reinstatement works are to specification.
You should expect to need traffic management and should not expect a perfect picture of the subsurface – the average high street environment is just too complex to map every buried service.
Clockwise from top left: Highway GPR surveys in Germany, New Zealand and South Africa