With limited resources and funding, a small council in Western Australia engaged Civiltech Solutions for its Cyvl platform, realising a worthwhile investment for its transport data needs.
Six months ago, the Shire of Broomehill Tambellup, a regional council in Western Australia, started using the services of national civil engineering provider Civiltech Solutions.
Civiltech Solutions deliver innovative and high-quality civil engineering and project delivery services across a range of industries, including local government.
Servicing a range of local government areas (LGAs) like the Shire of Broomehill Tambellup, Civiltech delivers infrastructure knowledge through its road data sensor and platform created by Cyvl.
The Cyvl platform is used to derive roadway information, such as location and condition rating of pavements, signs, kerbing, footpaths signs and line marking.
A single data capture provides many information outputs that can empower local governments to make better decisions about local roads. This includes long-term financial analysis and valuations, upon which specific maintenance activity needs to occur, all of which can be achieved with the one data set.
Leigh Carnall, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Civiltech Solutions says the partnership with the shire has been an optimal chance to assess the data requirements of small councils.
“There are specific requirements needed by small and regional councils, and in Broomehill Tambellup’s case, there were knowledge gaps that the team were keen to fill,” he says. “We wanted to make sure the data we gave them was fit for use in its entirety, so if the team needed a particular question answered, we could extract that and give them the exact outputs to make them more effective at their job.”
Carnall says he hopes councils Australia-wide will regularly use Civiltech Solutions data to gain information on their roadways.
“If we can have councils running a network sweep using our sensor every year, they will be able to use the data to accurately assess what planning or strategies need to be changed in the LGA to best meet the long-term needs of the community,” says Carnall.
“We need to be doing things right to extend the life of community infrastructure, as opposed to running an asset into the ground, then reconstructing.”
In early meetings with the shire, Carnall sat down with Karen Callaghan, Chief Executive Officer for Shire of Broomehill Tambellup to understand the shire’s primary objectives.
“Over the course of four days, our sensors collected data across the entire road network in the LGA,” says Carnall.
“In our discussions we deciphered what they wanted from the data. This included what audits were coming up and which images they would need to supply to councillors.”
Callaghan says the council decided to partner with Civiltech to improve its cost savings.
“We are a very small shire, which means we have very limited resources and funding, so when we came across this opportunity, we jumped on it,” she says.
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Having the data automatically in the system has allowed Callaghan and her small team to better prioritise and address their core duties.
“Before we worked with Civiltech, all data collection was done manually and didn’t include tracking footpaths and signage,” she says.
“We would have our work supervisor go out and survey the roads himself. Being able to put this data into our asset management systems alleviates a lot of the work that we need to do within the office, while also increasing the lifespan of those assets.”
The data
During the course of the partnership, the shire has received data on pavements, signs, lines on roads and more.
The data is accessible through a web interface and is easily shared through a link, something Peter Vlahov, Works Manager, Shire of Broomehill Tambellup says is a great feature.
“The way the AI translates the data into photos and plain English is very helpful, you don’t have to be a scientist or engineer to understand it,” says Vlahov. “The few times I have had queries, the Civiltech Solutions team has been able to instantly help in bringing up a piece of data, making the whole process very convenient and accessible.”
Vlahov says the data has primarily been used for long-term maintenance planning, funding applications and to monitor road deterioration, subject to abnormal loadings.
“Being able to capture all of the data accurately in real time is brilliant and way ahead of any other AI data collection software out there,” says Vlahov.
The data is primarily displayed in photos rather than other forms of graphical data.
Vlahov says the imagery is appreciated when presenting council with funding applications.
“We have used the data to apply for road repairs, road reconstruction, road improvement projects and more,” says Vlahov.
“Having the imagery to be able to justify why we need the funding for the roads, footpaths, signage and verges has been monumental.
“Not to mention we are able to source the data within the space of a few hours rather than a week.”
In the six months the pair have been working together, Callaghan says the data has exceeded all expectations.
“Without a doubt we would recommend it to as many shires in the area as possible, and I have already mentioned it to a few of my Chief Executive Officer counterparts,” says Callaghan. “We have noticed the accuracy of the data is incomparable with anything we would’ve done ourselves. It is so worthwhile and done so efficiently.”
For more information, visit https://www.civiltechsolutions.com.au/
This article was originally published in the April edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
