Monitoring and access management of resource roads with instrumentation

Abstract

Forest transportation operations are facing challenges such as having larger road networks to manage because of dispersed harvest patterns, climate changes forcing more hauling to take place under wet road conditions, shortages of gravel, more worn-out roads without a budget to rebuild, and the use of larger heavier trucks. This provides an opportunity for the use of instrumentation with sensors and data acquisition systems to allow real-time monitoring of road conditions that, when tied to threshold values, can be used to manage access and control road operating costs. This research study will describe the link between road material and road performance as well as different types of instrumentation (how and why they are used). It will discuss a case study performed by FPInnovations that used instrumentation to test if the installation of insulation within the road structure of a weak and wet section of the road will improve road strength and performance in the spring by preventing the road from freezing and thawing. Other uses of instrumentation on resource roads will also be discussed as well as the use of instrumentation in defining start and end dates for spring thaw load restrictions (SLRs) on low-volume highways and resource roads across Canada.