Highways England Enhanced Defect Detection

The Enhanced Defect Detection (EDD) system provides photographic evidence, increases positional accuracy, and raises workflow efficiency by reducing the amount of time taken to record, transmit and report defects, supporting information to Highway England’s prime asset information system.

To draw together outputs from the system hardware into a user-friendly tool, the IBI team developed a user interface app and a system for synchronising survey outputs with Highway England’s asset management systems. Furthermore, we expanded the utility of our existing solution, used by Highways England for image hosting and road network referencing, thereby resolving a technical shortfall regarding data management and transfer.

This solution offers Highways England a technological step-change in pace, accuracy and efficiency of data collection in a safe and reliable way. It also offers an enhanced ability to deliver cashable savings to its operational practice through high-speed recording, effective assessment, and management of its maintenance activities. The success of this project incentivised Highways England to embrace future technologies leveraged by IBI, such as artificial intelligence.

The effective communication of the project and its benefits to key stakeholders and decision makers was of equal importance. We also produced a short animation that tells the EDD story in an accessible and consumable format that was greatly appreciated by the client who went on to use this solution in their internal communications.