“On a Peaceful Mission”, Sez Government
Over the past several days, Anderson County offices have been receiving phone calls and emails from citizens asking about a spooky-looking van of some sort, seen roaming about the streets in a slow, deliberate manner.
Yes, there is a Mystery Machine in our community, but this one doesn’t carry Scooby-Doo and a bunch of Meddling Kids. Instead, this van and its equipment are being used to assess the physical conditions of our county roads.
Its mission is not merely to tell us that some roads are bad—we all know that many, many of our roads need fixing. What this strange vehicle will do is help us figure out how much fixing each road needs. Does a particular road just need resurfacing or a full rebuild? Entire road or just sections of it? What kind of shape is the roadbed in?
How does it perform such strange magic? By using space-age technology! No, not Marvin the Martian’s Illudium Pu-36 Explosive Space Modulator, but something almost as neat—LASERS!
As it prowls the countryside on its appointed rounds, the van uses cameras and lasers to measure different deficiencies in the road surface. After the data is collected then it’s analyzed to determine the types of deficiencies and best practice to make repairs. Sometimes, road repairs prove to be only temporary because the true source of the problem isn’t immediately visible to repair crews. Thanks to the work performed by our friendly technological marvel, we’ll be better able to diagnose the problem with a road and address the root cause.
The van will be assessing more than 1,500 lane miles of county road in the coming weeks and months. When it’s done, the data it has collected will be used to help prioritize needs and allow the county to better allocate its road repair budget.
So—no special need to worry if you see our little friend haunting your neighborhood. It is being operated by two nice humans working for Roadway Asset Services, an infrastructure asset and pavement management company working for Anderson County. The van is on a friendly mission and is there to serve you, as are all of us here with the Anderson County government.
RAS Scanning Anderson County Roads: https://youtu.be/XDhywSkf2Ag