The primary objective of PAV3M is to develop a holistic platform which integrates imaging based road pavement inspection technology with a risk management and cost/benefits application software tool to support road management needs of transportation agencies, construction and road rehabilitation companies and local governments. On the technological side we propose an automated, portable visual pavement inspection system for traffic-speed pavement distress monitoring and analysis of road pavements whose high degree of integration, easy mountability and costs will permit its operation on non-specialized vehicles and thus its widespread use. Current approaches for road condition data collection are done by specialized vehicles at substantial costs and long inspection cycles. In some cases, due to limited funding, officials even relay on time-consuming manual labor. Yet the importance for traffic safety of timely identification and rectification of road deformations cannot be overstated.

PAV3M will exploit recent advances in image acquisition hardware (higher resolution sensors, faster and more light sensitive digital cameras, increased data acquisition rates, etc.) and the tremendous increase in processing/computing power of “miniatural” units. The proposed system will consist of an innovative camera system and a full set of additional sensors for positioning, orientation and communication. Within PAV3M we will develop efficient algorithms and methods for automated image and video processing to identify and quantify road pavement surface condition parameters. Coupling this information with prediction of defects and with a cost and risk management application will endow the road owners with a methodology to assess the current status of the pavements and to evaluate the effect of maintenance techniques on the pavement capital.

Economic and risk management aspects (UBB) together with defect evolution prediction will be fully integrated into a web portal offering a service that is part of the SMEs (CITST and CCEE) business strategy for targeting the fast developing Romanian road management sector. Intelligent System development will follow Oguara objectives of Pavement Maintenance and Management Systems (PMMS) linked with management tools and functionality. Our proposal links together PMMS and PMS (Pavement Management Systems) in a web-based multi-tier modular solution, which will be offered as a SaaS (Software as a Service) through a web portal.

Using semantic Web we propose a road history database, which can be used in the risk management module. An expert module assists the decision makers in finding optimum strategies for maintaining pavements and the risk module offers solutions for avoid or mitigate risk factors in a given period of time for the minimum cost. This module will offer alternative strategies to cover the wide range of risks associated with pavements, which was proposed by Paine, based on Unified Facilities Criteria for Pavement Maintenance Management.

Partners involved in the project ensure the complementary synergies in a transdisciplinary approach, based on their competencies, involving a number of interrelated disciplines. We mention relevant expertise in hardware integration, image processing and pattern recognition area, multimedia databases, business process management, risk management, e-business application, portals and web technologies, Web services.