Field Experiments in Automated Monitoring of Road Construction

Abstract

The growing need for better monitoring and control of road construction projects, together with rapid technological progress, have led to a number of interesting developments, which are reviewed below. The present paper describes the development of a real-time monitoring model capable of measuring productivity and progress automatically. The model, which uses global positioning system for on-site automated data collection, was tested and validated on site. The results of the field experiments have indicated that the expected accuracy level of the model can be assessed as ±4–5% for unstructured activities and even higher for more structured ones, such as asphalt spreading. The paper concludes that it is possible to automatically measure the performance of earthmoving operations. Based on the results, it also highlights the needs for further research.