Autostrade Italy and Fugro Celebrate a 30-year Partnership

Autostrade S.p.A., Italy has received its latest Automatic Road Analyzer (ARAN 9000) data collection vehicle on the 30th anniversary of its partnership with Fugro Roadware. Autostrade, a leading European concessionaire for toll motorway construction and management, acquired the new ARAN to gather road condition data and to create an updated maintenance strategy for its road network of over 3,000 km. This saves costs by facilitating an intelligent asset management program where assets past their useful and safe life are identified and replaced quickly, thus reducing the risk to road users. This process also prevents the premature replacement of assets with useful remaining life. The longstanding partnership between Autostrade and Fugro has provided continual road network infrastructure solutions which have resulted in better and safer roads in Italy.

The new ARAN 9000 is fully equipped with state-of-the-art measurement sensors that allow Autostrade to collect high quality images, helping to eliminate time consuming and costly field visits. The collected images are used to create a geo-referenced catalog of the pavement condition as well as roadside assets such as signage and guardrails. An important part of any automated road condition survey is the data collection process and the ARAN system is capable of traveling at highway speeds while collecting and storing high resolution data. Autostrade then uses Fugro’s Vision software to analyze the information and make road improvement decisions. Since purchasing its first ARAN in 1985, Autostrade has been supported by Fugro, monitoring road conditions and evaluating inventory assets efficiently in a cost effective manner. This partnership has contributed to safer roads for all drivers and the creation of rehabilitation plans to ensure longer lasting roads in Italy.

David Lowe, Fugro Roadware’s Managing Director, stated, “We are looking forward to continuing close and fruitful cooperation with Autostrade S.p.A. and building upon our partnership. This latest ARAN system presents a great opportunity for Fugro Roadware to continue our collaboration with Autostrade and support their vital mission to maintain and improve the public road infrastructure network in Italy.”

Fugro Roadware is the preferred system for vehicle-based automated data collection systems in Europe. With systems installed by concessionaires, consultants and government agencies in the UK, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Spain and Italy, customers are maintaining roads more effectively, through better decisions using the best data.

Photo: The latest ARAN 9000 (Automatic Road Analyzer) roadway asset data collection vehicle for Autostrade S.p.A.