Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to locate potholes across Moreton Bay roads in Queensland as part of a $64 million road repair program.
And dashcam cameras in waste collection trucks is allowing AI to locate the potholes.
Moreton Bay City Council says of the 12,896 potholes that were repaired in the last six months, 4547 were identified by AI technology which has detected 48,282 potholes since 2020.
More than $64m is being spent on repairing at least 110 roads in the current financial year as part of council’s first $1 billion budget.
Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery says they are responsible for more than 3800km of roads across the local government area.
“As we grow to a city with one million residents in 30 years, council is committed to ensuring our infrastructure is maintained and fit for purpose,” he says.
“These works will extend the life of road surfaces so we can minimise deteriorating conditions and recurrent maintenance that can become a big cost to ratepayers.”
HOW AI DETECTS POTHOLES
In early 2019, council rolled out smart technology in its rubbish collection trucks that pairs dashcams with AI to fast-track the identification and scheduling of road repairs.
Video footage from these trucks is transmitted to the Cloud where AI then identifies potholes, cracking, line markings and signs.
The job is then added to council’s repairs schedule with jobs prioritised based on the severity of the work required.
“Smart technology is now utilised across all 14 council recycling trucks,” Flannery says.
“Our recycling trucks drive the same route every fortnight, allowing them to identify any new defects that need repairing.”
In addition to AI detection, council staff identified and repaired 6812 potholes while residents have asked for repairs to 1537 holes.
“Potholes may develop during periods of heavy rain but our crews are working hard to ensure that roads are repaired in a timely manner,” Flannery says.
Residents are encouraged to report road defects via its Snap Send Solve app.
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