SIUE receives a $215,000 IDOT grant
SIUE recently received a $215,000 research grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to identify available methodologies for collecting and storing highway inventory data. Working on the project are Shunfu Hu, professor of geography, and his graduate assistant Kamiliah Logralso, as well as Huoguo Zhou, assistant professor of civil engineering; Jie Gong, assistant professor of construction; and Mark Grinter, assistant professor of construction, from the School of Engineering.
The goal of the project is to determine advantages and disadvantages of existing data collection system for determining the amount of resources (road signs, guard rails, shoulders, road side call boxes, etc.) present on roadways. This data will then be used to assess the safety of highway conditions for the state.
The collection methods being studied include laser mapping, mobile mapping (using LIDAR), and multimedia mapping. The data collected is then placed into a GIS (Global Information System) to assess road segments on seven point scale ranging from unsafe to safe.
The project began January 1, 2012 and will run until June 30, 2013. The results of this study will be used by IDOT to determine the most cost effective and advantageous technique for statewide data collection.
Filed Under: Geography
