The Transport Minister has unveiled the rollout of new data collection vans in an effort to understand the condition of New Zealand’s roads and prevent potholes.
In a statement this afternoon, Simeon Brown said the new Consistent Condition Data Collection (CCDC) survey vans would hit the roads and provide surface condition data “at a scale never seen in New Zealand before”.
In June, the Government announced a nearly $4 billion boost to the fight against potholes, which would be doled out to the regions over three years. The areas seeing the most pothole funding are Auckland ($487m), Waikato ($214m), Canterbury ($188m), and Northland ($149m).
The vans will replace manual on-the-ground inspections, which Brown called “inefficient”.
“These vans will provide consistent, high quality surface condition data at a scale never seen in New Zealand before, replacing the inefficient and manual on-the-ground inspections currently happening in many locations across the country.
“Manual inspections often lead to poorer data collection, variations as a result of human error, and increased risk to inspectors’ safety while working in traffic,” he said.
Brown said the rollout would give authorities more on-demand data about the state of roads, meaning parts that needed pothole prevention work could be identified early.
“These vans will also enable consistent collection methods for all Road Controlling Authorities (RCAs) as they are rolled out and more widely used,” he said.
Brown said the vans were now undertaking surveys on roads across Auckland, Christchurch, Tauranga, Western Bay of Plenty, Marlborough, Nelson, and Tasman.
Over the next 10 months, around 80,000km of local roads were expected to be surveyed, providing data to RCAs.
“To deliver the critical resealing, rehabilitation and drainage maintenance work that will be required to prevent potholes on our roads, the Government has delivered a record 91% funding boost for pothole prevention on the State Highway network and a 50% funding boost for pothole prevention on local roads,” Brown said.
There will eventually be five vans, each covering part of the country.
Inspections of all sealed roads will be carried out every second year, and “high class” roads will be done annually.
