Motorway

The UK’s Highways Agency has awarded a contract to Atkins and Yotta for Yotta’s Horizons visualised asset management software as well as associated implementation services.

Under the £600,000 contract, Atkins and Yotta will supply and enable the use of software to inform and enhance the development of the Highways Agency’s road renewals programme.

The tool allows the agency to conduct modeling in order to understand the current and future conditions of the network based on its national pavement condition survey information.

The model will be used later to predict the need for maintenance.

Yotta will provide the Horizons software, while Atkins will deliver project management and quality assurance service.

"It is vital that highway authorities can make the most of their existing assets."

Yotta’s Horizons software is an asset management system, and the latest deal marks the largest implementation of the software to date worldwide.

Horizons will incorporate data gathered from a package of condition surveys, with a a major proportion of the surveys to be delivered by Yotta for the Highways Agency, which include Traffic Speed Condition Survey (TRACS), skid resistance and Deflectograph surveys.

Atkins asset management service director Alan Taggart said: ‘It is vital that highway authorities can make the most of their existing assets, to provide efficient and effective services to road users.

"This partnership demonstrates how collaboration between technology providers and asset management consultants can ensure the Highways Agency can deliver on their business objectives by using effective asset management solutions."

The Decision Support Tool will also help the Highways Agency to visualise its asset data as well as to run analyses for the development of programmes of pavement renewals work.

The project was procured under the Transport-Related Technical Engineering and Research Advice Framework, and will run for a period of 15 months.

Image: Yotta provides e visualised asset coverage of England’s trunk roads and motorways, covering nearly 18,650 lane miles. Photo: courtesy of John Evans.