PLYMOUTH — The Marshall County Commissioners will explore a high-tech solution for efficiency in the Highway Department’s road management.
Commissioner Adam Faulstich approached the board with information on a software company called vialytics Americas, based in Edison, NJ, which provides “fleet services” for highway departments to make management of highway work more efficient.
Faulstich told the board that the company outfits cameras on fleet vehicles that record to software that records potholes, street signs, ditches, any damage, to or alongside the road, records the locations on GPS, and can generate work orders for their repair. It can record all the vehicle speeds, and even go as far as to record when a snow plow is raised and lowered on a vehicle.
As a result, Faulstich said that the software could be used to create a map of which county roads have been plowed in the winter, and record it to a map that could be made available online for county citizens to know which roads have been cleared during a storm, or are clear during summer storms that may cause flooding.
He said that the software could also record PASER (Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating) ratings on the roads the vehicle travels, which could be used by INDOT’s Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) regarding road repair and funds for such.
Mike Miley, the county’s insurance advisor, voiced a concern for possible liability to the county for unaddressed road issues that may lead to lawsuits. County Attorney Sean Surrisi stated that he felt that the concern could be addressed by establishing a clear process on how issues are addressed and the priority of each hazard.
Highway Superintendent Jason Peters will ask the company to make a presentation during an upcoming public meeting of the Commissioners.
