Cambridgeshire County Council has rolled out an inspection tool enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI) to combat its £800m road maintenance backlog.
After a successful trial, the local authority has introduced the highway software called ‘Route Reports’, the contract for which cost £100,000 and began earlier in the year. It allows for more efficient highway safety inspections by delivering live data on road conditions.
Inspections are supported by AI, which can detect road defects including potholes, while inspection vehicles will be installed with cameras, with officers responsible for checking footage after.
With the council’s number of reported defects per weak reaching an all-time high of 2,892 in February, there has been a decrease in these figures over the last month, with just 830 being recorded in the week ending March 29.
Cllr Alex Beckett, chair of the Highways and Transport Committee at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: ‘We’re always looking at innovative and different ways to tackle potholes, whilst we know the long-term fix is to prevent potholes from forming in the first place rather than simply filling them in.’
According to the council, it is now spending twice as much as it did in 2023 on preventative road treatments.
‘The next stage of the project is to have the technology fully integrated with our works ordering system. This would increase the efficiency of our day-to-day highway maintenance operations’, a council spokesperson added.
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Photo: © Matt Hoffman.
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