A Prototype Gis-Based Road Pavement Information and Management System

Abstract

Poor co-ordination and inefficient flow of information in the Roads Department, Ministry of Roads & Public Works has been a major contributor to inaccuracy in monitoring, management, planning and subsequent development of the road infrastructure in Kenya. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in making sound and timely decisions about road pavements to support efficient management of the same. This is achieved by development of a prototype GIS-based pavement management system for the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) as a case study. The three major results of this study are: (1) a database of spatial and non spatial data that is valuable for pavement management; (2) integration of models for predicting future pavement conditions based on the current conditions; and (3) development of user interfaces for querying and analyzing the database. The system is anticipated to considerably improve the decision-making process involved in managing road pavements.