Leica Pegasus:Two – a perfect network survey vehicle for highway infrastructure projects in India
In order to achieve the maximum accuracy in the fast amount of time and at the lowest cost Prashant Surveys, a land surveying and mapping company based in Pune, Maharashtra, India, is the first company in India to use the Leica Pegasus:Two mobile sensor platform for its projects.
Prashant Surveys acquired two Leica Pegasus:Two systems in March 2015, and since then the company has successfully completed more than 10,000 kilometres of highway surveys in India.
A perfect network survey vehicle for road asset management
India has one of the largest road networks in the world; requiring the development of a Road Asset Management System (RAMS) for the National Highways (NHs) was a necessity for the country. The RAMS is a strategic and systematic process of maintaining, upgrading, and operating road assets effectively. The objective of this project was to assist in accurate and scientific maintenance planning, enhancement of road safety measures, and the creation of a plan for the development of the National Highway network itself, in India. This is a web-based system with a comprehensive asset register which can provide a variety of information to its’ stakeholders, with the click of a mouse. The data collection for this system was done with the Leica Pegasus:Two platform.
The Pegasus:Two was used for the automatic collection of road inventory and pavement condition data which was required for road asset management, pavement maintenance management system, and road safety audit related studies. The following categories of road inventory data were collected for this demanding project:
- Pavement surface and width
- Road type and furniture
- Shoulder type and width
- Median type and width
- Cross section
- Side drain type
- Land use
- Topography
- Wayside amenities.
Collecting road inventory and pavement condition data
Prashant Surveys used the Leica Pegasus:Two combined with an additional pavement assessment camera which enables advanced, unique analysis of different types of pavement condition such as:
- Cracking
- Ravelling
- Potholes
- Patching
- Depression
- Bleeding
- Edge Break
- Shoulder Condition
- Drain Condition.
Additionally, the rear camera enables the indexing of cracking while the lidar profile allows the calculation of the roughness (IRI) index. Road sign extraction, for asset management, can be carried out on the images generated from the side cameras.
Using as-built survey data for road maintenance
The as-built survey data captured with the Leica Pegasus:Two was valuable for the operation and maintenance plans of the highways. In addition, the 360 degrees panoramic view will help in the documentation of any existing facts and assets along the highways.
With frequent data capture, every six or twelve months, is useful for detecting the changes in the road inventory, pavement conditions, and general deformation. Moreover, the captured data and the creation of a comprehensive database will be beneficial during safety audits and reconstructing accident scenes.
Multiple applications
Besides carrying out highway mapping and road assessment, the Leica Pegasus:Two mobile LiDAR sensor platform can be applied by Prashant Surveys to various projects:
- 3D city modelling, city surveys and topographic surveys
- Railways, fast trains, metros, tramways corridor mapping
- Surveys for airport runways, taxiways and adjoining areas
- Surveys for the telecommunication industry
- Canals and distributaries system
- Water and gas pipelines surveys.
The Leica Pegasus:Two proved to be a perfect road network survey solution and an important asset in Prashant Surveys’ equipment portfolio, enabling the company to deliver large scale infrastructure projects with significant value, on budget and on time.