Define Data Formats, Processing Workflows, and Quality-Control Procedures Early to Support Integration Between Real-Time Modulus Mapping and a Centralized Operational Roadway Asset Management System.
Iowa’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Project Mapped 12,000 Miles of Unpaved Roads Across 24 Counties.
Iowa, United States
Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration Project: Asset Management Tool for Iowa County Engineers – Unpaved Granular Road Modulus
Summary Information
While Iowa maintains more than 66,000 miles of unpaved roads, county engineers have historically lacked objective, spatially continuous data to assess roadway structural capacity and performance. Funded by FHWA’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) grant in 2021, the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT), Buena Vista County, and the Iowa County Engineers Association Service Bureau (ICEASB) deployed a Validated Intelligent Compaction (VIC)-based real-time modulus mapping tool as an asset management tool on approximately 12,000 miles of unpaved roads across 24 counties. The tool uses real-time, georeferenced sensing and mapping technology with automated data transfer and quality control. The system collected continuous georeferenced data, including modulus values, roadway geometry, surface material type, permanent deformation, and digital imagery. Collected data were integrated into the ICEASB Operations Management System (OMS), a web-based, map-driven platform that allows county engineers to visualize, query, and analyze roadway condition data at the segment, project, and network levels.
The study identified the following lessons learned.
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Define data formats, processing workflows, and quality-control procedures early to support seamless system integration. Early coordination between the mapping team and ICEASB reduced post-processing, supported data transfer into the OMS, and improved confidence in the results.
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Real-time modulus mapping is most useful when paired with targeted field validation, such as Automated Plate Load Testing and Dynamic Cone Penetrometer testing. These tests helped calibrate mapped data, account for seasonal effects, and connect measured modulus values to practical performance measures such as rutting and remaining service life.
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Standardize operator training, equipment speeds, operating conditions, and collection protocols to maintain data quality. Clear operating protocols for roller-mounted real-time modulus mapping equipment helped improve repeatability and reduce data noise across counties, routes, and seasons.
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Collect and analyze data across multiple seasons to accurately assess unpaved-road performance. Measurements collected during spring thaw showed substantially different modulus and rutting behavior than measurements collected during summer and fall.
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Provide intuitive visualizations and practical performance metrics tied directly to maintenance decisions to encourage technology adoption. County engineers were more accepting of the system when the data were presented as an operational decision-support tool rather than as a research exercise.
