The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) has selected NIRA Dynamics in an innovation procurement for the development and demonstration as well as the purchase of a service that enables the collection of information on pavement damage using connected vehicles.
As digitalization accelerates, the ability to obtain higher quality information about road infrastructure has increased. This can provide valuable data to the Swedish Transport Administration and contribute to more sustainable and cost-effective road maintenance.
“With the collection of anonymized vehicle data from connected vehicles, we should be able to achieve better decision-making and thus better road maintenance,” says Fredrik Lindström, national coordinator for road surface measurements at Trafikverket.
In 2022, Trafikverket launched the Connected Road Surface Measurements project to develop, test, and evaluate the possibility of using existing sensors in ordinary connected vehicles to collect information on pavement quality and damage. Contracts have been signed with three suppliers, NIRA Dynamics being one of them, Mercedes-Benz and ZenseAct being the others.
“We are excited to continue collaborating with Trafikverket. After years of helping improve winter maintenance, we can also support with data and services that will help improve road maintenance planning all year around.” says Lisa Åbom, CEO at NIRA Dynamics.
The innovation procurement includes development, demonstration, and purchase of service in a single transaction. The project begins by studying damaged areas that cannot be captured through traditional road surface measurements, such as potholes, frost damage, and other winter damage.
“The unique aspect is that the agreement includes both the development of a solution that does not currently exist on the market and the future purchase of the ‘connected road surface measurements’ service for several years. By signing contracts with multiple parties, we can both create a market and obtain the solutions we need,” says Sirpa Lindén, Purchaser at Trafikverket .
“Our role in the project is to assist the project management at Trafikverket with communication and to support the suppliers’ development work through innovation coaching. We will also ensure that experiences gained from the project are managed through continuous reflection and learning.” says Hawzheen Karim, Focus area leader for Sustainable Maintenance at InfraSweden.
“We know from the Digital Winter project that innovation is much more than technology development. It also requires the development of the needs owner’s business/organization, regulations, knowledge, and business models to give the needs owner the ability to use the new technology in their operations.” concludes Anders Asp, Project manager at Trafikverket.
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