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Can You Read the Signs?
Inventory and Fix Faded & Missing Roadway Signs Quickly

The traveling public relies on roadway signs for navigation and information. But keeping track of hundreds or thousands of signs is a challenge. PILLAR’s inventory service and assessment tools will help you replace faded and missing roadway signs and stop potential problems for drivers before they start.

Signs of Trouble

Faded roadway signs. Drivers rely on a sign’s brightness and reflectivity to get information at a glance. Faded signs are frustrating and can be dangerous.

Missing signs. Signs go missing regularly for a variety of reasons, such as unreported accidents, theft and extreme weather. 

Misplaced signs. It can be a challenge for DOTs and localities to map out every existing sign or even know if they’re installed in the best location. 

Boost Your Signal

PILLAR has the solution. We’ve helped DOT districts of all sizes collect inventory and mark the location of their signs — including a project that has 100,000+ signage assets. We then assess the condition of those assets, create a detailed list of damaged and missing assets with cost estimates and put a replacement program in place for the DOT or municipal operations and maintenance division to follow.

No matter your staffing levels, PILLAR will help you work smarter throughout the lifespan of your roadway signage with our multi-phased approach:

Inventory

PILLAR has the expertise to use various inventory collection methods, from high-tech Mobile LiDAR scanning to traditional surveying to locate all of your roadway signs at marked speeds. We map, catalog and document your assets, putting valuable information at your fingertips.

Inspection

PILLAR’s team of specialized condition assessors then reviews your assets, offering a full range of expert evaluation, including:

  • Predictive data analytics, proving an estimate of when a sign will need replaced
  • Visual inspection
  • Condition rating
  • Life expectancy
  • Risk analysis

Replacement

After inspection, the PILLAR team will create a proactive and cost-effective asset management plan for any needed roadway sign replacement that includes cost estimates and cost-saving options over the long term. Recommendations may include:

  • Priority based replacement
  • Preventative maintenance
  • Area clustering, or replacing multiple signs in a specific area to save on labor and equipment costs
  • Consider switching to smart signs that are dynamic and allow motorists to see critical information immediately

Implementation

Our team can collaborate with your employees and event track all the details of your management plan, including: 

  • Contacting, supporting in-house employees or hired contractors
  • Scheduling
  • Installation

Once your plan is executed, PILLAR continues our work with continued data management, regularly updating your signage catalog and monitor the condition of your assets. We can even deploy technology such as RFID or QR codes to monitor each sign’s condition and maintenance history.

Monitor Your Signs Better with PILLAR

Faded and missing roadway signs aren’t just unsightly, they can be dangerous for drivers. With PILLAR’s inventory service and assessment tools, your municipality will have a trusted partner and a proactive plan for roadway sign replacement. Contact PILLAR for a free consultation and see how we can help.

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Solving Congested Rest & Parking Areas for Commercial Drivers

According to the American Trucking Association, there were 3.54 million truck drivers working in American in 2022. That’s a 1.5% increase from 2021. The industry is exploding thanks in no small part to the continuing increase in e-commerce, which has significantly increased demand of delivery services. 

Unfortunately, truck parking capacity has not been able to keep pace with the high industry growth, creating a series of bad days for commercial drivers and their employers.

Trucking’s Parking Problem

The trucking industry has struggled with congested rest and parking areas for commercial drivers for over a decade. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that there are just 300,000 spaces available and many states have closed down rest areas as part of cost-cutting strategies. Drivers themselves often have to sacrifice valuable drive time to find and claim a safe spot, if they can find one.

It’s not uncommon for drivers to enter rest areas only to find that they are completely full. This situation forces them to park in unsafe conditions on the side of busy highways, or drive the wrong way in an effort to leave the full rest area in search of another. 

Asset Management Solutions to Congested Rest Areas

The parking issue for trucking companies is a serious safety and liability issue. Trucks moving against traffic, parked on highway shoulders, or fatigued commercial drivers behind the wheel can cause life-threatening accidents for themselves and other drivers sharing the road.  

PILLAR can help prevent unsafe conditions by implementing an effective mix of technology and thoughtful planning.  

  • Parking Availability Counters: When it comes to rest areas, communication is key. PILLAR can equip rest areas with parking space counters that telegraph the number of available spaces before a truck ever pulls into the lot.
  • Signage: Truckers should never back up or drive against rest area traffic. We work with you to install appropriate signage to guide drivers through a rest area and back onto the highway in accordance with the traffic pattern. 
  • Parking Availability Communication: Good communication can result in good organization. Using weight sensing traffic counters, PILLAR can devise and implement a system of communication that keeps drivers informed while on their routes.
  • Rest Area Reconfiguration: Building new rest areas or even adding additional space for parking spots can be cost prohibitive for some municipalities. We can help make the most efficient use of existing rest area footprint. By reconfiguring the layout of your rest area, we can make more spaces available and mitigate expenses. 

Contact PILLAR and Resolve Congested Rest & Parking Areas for Commercial Drivers

PILLAR is a transportation asset management firm dedicated to maximizing the lifecycle of your assets. Our multidisciplinary team of experts is ready to help you stop bad days before the start through proactive collection, assessment, planning, and execution. Work smarter, not harder with PILLAR. Contact us for help managing your congested rest and parking areas.

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Wrong Way Delineation: Techniques and Prevention

Fatalities from wrong-way driving are on the rise. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, traffic fatalities caused by wrong-way driving accidents increased from 451 in 2016 to 507 in 2020. With the troubling upward trend, more DOTs have begun investigating ways to address wrong-way driving and prevent unnecessary traffic fatalities.

Wrong-Way Driving a Growing Concern

The prevalence of these incidents is a growing concern for DOTS, localities, and law enforcement. For example, Connecticut saw a dramatic uptick in fatal wrong-way crashes, moving from just two in 2020 to 13 in 2023. The CTDOT proactively investigated ways to stop dangerous wrong driving to combat this worrying trend.

The CTDOT determined impaired drivers caused the majority of accidents they faced. They implemented a preemptive plan to keep their motorists safe, including installing extra signage in close proximity to establishments that served alcohol, deploying high-tech electronic signage that warned other drivers of danger, and implementing a real-time alert system for emergency responders.

Wrong-Way Driving Prevention: Techniques, Strategies, and Technology

Prevention measures are key to staying ahead of the risks to keep motorists safe. As the CTDOT has shown, several techniques and emerging technologies can help prevent wrong-way driving and keep motorists safe. 

  • Wrong-way signs: Signage is the classic first step in alerting motorists that they are traveling in the wrong direction. These signs are strategically installed so they catch the eye only of vehicles traveling in the wrong direction, hopefully stopping tragedy before it occurs. 
  • Directional rumble strips: These special rumble strips are designed to activate only if a driver is traveling the wrong way. These directional rumble strips will alert wrong-way drivers through vibration and sound that something is amiss, giving them a chance to stop. 
  • Technology on exit ramps: New technology uses cameras to detect wrong-way drivers and immediately flash bright red LED lights to let them know they are driving the wrong way. Additional technology can notify state police in real-time, dramatically shortening response time. 
  • Variable electronic message signs: These signs protect drivers who are traveling in the correct direction but who are at risk for head-on collisions with wrong-way drivers in their area. When a wrong-way driver is in the area, these electronic signs can immediately warn drivers to beware. 
  • Prioritizing upgrades at high-risk exit ramps: High-risk exit ramps include ramps that are near locations that serve alcohol. Studies found a direct relationship between drinking and driving the wrong way on a divided highway, showing that individuals with BACs greater than or equal to 0.08 g/dL had an odds ratio of 18.36 for driving the wrong way. Prioritizing exit ramps that match these characteristics is of the utmost importance and can decrease the number of wrong-way accidents and fatalities.
  • Reconfigure Rest Areas: Rest areas can be widened, reconfiguring the space to accommodate more drivers and preventing the need for tractor-trailers to move in the wrong direction on a highway.

Make Your Roads Safer with PILLAR

Wrong-way driving often results in head-on collisions with significant injuries or death. Traffic fatalities have devastating ripple effects on families and communities. PILLAR is poised to help your municipality tackle the issue of wrong-way driving through our proven CAPE approach. We can help you collect data to determine the cause of wrong-way driving in your area and then plan and execute a plan that makes your roads safer. 

PILLAR is a trusted partner of DOTs across the country and has a successful record of helping them stop bad days before they start. If you’re ready to address the risks of wrong-way driving in your community, contact PILLAR for a free consultation and see how we can help.

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Don’t Let Unpaid Third-Party Damage Claims Cause a Bad Day.  
PILLAR Can Help.

Let’s face it, traffic accidents cause bad days for all involved. Unfortunately, for transportation asset managers getting the damage repaired is often just the beginning of the bad day saga. Collecting third-party damage claims from a driver’s insurance company is critical to getting funds you need. If not dealt with quickly and thoroughly, DOTs can lose millions in claims that they’re owed. But navigating the complicated collection process is time consuming and frustrating. 

Get the insurance money you’re owed. 

Don’t miss out on insurance recovery claims on damaged assets. PILLAR can help with a team of multi-disciplined professionals who take the complexities out of the collection process. We will work to identify the damage, investigate the circumstances and help you build a claim package that’s ready to submit. 

Our work speaks for itself. PILLAR’s has helped one DOT collect over $4.5 million in third-party damage claims over the past five years.

PILLAR Helps You Save Valuable Time and Money 

With PILLAR, you can identify and investigate damages faster and more efficiently. You’ll see significantly higher collection rates, which frees up budget for transportation management initiatives. We put in the work to identify and investigate damages and put together a claim package to save you time and money.

We can help clients identify asset damage in a number of ways, including our connected infrastructure sensors which provide alerts when there is an impact or other issue, our team in the field sites a problem, or we are alerted by the DOT to send our team out. 

Then, PILLAR’s professionals begin gathering information in the field — everything from the time, date, location and photographs of the damage to the names and contact information of the law enforcement officers who responded after the damage was done. With decades of experience across the realm of transportation, our team has the experience to know that the more information we can collect from the scene, the better for the DOT. 

PILLAR generates an estimate of the damages, collects copies of the law enforcement reports through your state’s Department of Motor Vehicle system, and then compiles everything into a claims package for a DOT’s district accounting specialist for processing and collection.

No More Guesswork on Third-Party Damage Claims

Stop your bad days before they start. With PILLAR you will have the peace of mind that your damage claims are being managed proactively by a seasoned team of experts using the latest technology. 

Rely on our expertise to remove all the guesswork from the collection process.

Contact Us Today

Don’t let your damage collection process get bogged down in paperwork. Book a discovery meeting with PILLAR to learn more about how we can help you identify damage, investigate the circumstances, and build a case, making it easier to collect what you’re owed.

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The Value of Point Cloud Analysis for Transportation Infrastructure

Colored Point Cloud Model of Highway

Effective transportation infrastructure asset management starts with understanding your full inventory of assets and their condition. The resulting point clouds from Mobile LiDAR provide a clear picture of your transportation assets and their condition to make data-driven decisions quickly and cost-effectively.

Mobile LiDAR captures roadway and infrastructure assets at posted speed limits, thereby collecting data at a fraction of the time it takes traditional surveying methods.

Mobile LiDAR creates 3D point cloud models that are precise depictions of roadways and infrastructure. These give unparalleled accuracy in establishing relationships between your data points, revealing their true position and condition.

Maximizing the Value of the Point Cloud with PILLAR

PILLAR’s Mobile LiDAR service takes the significance of the point cloud to the next level with its proprietary Fully Automatic Feature Extraction System (AFES) that instantly extracts features and attributes (such as height, width, text, etc.) as data is processed. Machine Learning, AI, and Computer Vision are incorporated in the processing of this data with outputs to standard GIS formats, Shape files, geodatabases, and more.

Gone are the days of spending countless man-hours scrolling through pictures overlapped on the point cloud, pointing a cursor, and clicking on the asset to spatially link the two. Rather than traditional “point and click” semi-automatic extraction, Mobile LiDAR with AFES means fewer days to completion of your global view.

Decisions Backed by Data

Without a global view of your assets and infrastructure, it can be difficult to make decisions for asset managers to justify funding for projects and programs. Tasked with managing hundreds of assets, some organizations are unaware of more hidden assets such as pipelines, drainage systems, and paved ditches. This can account for poorly mismanaged asset maintenance, costing agencies thousands of dollars.

A point cloud analysis powered by PILLAR AFES gives decision-makers the ability to provide asset data across various departments and stakeholders, integrating databases and streamlining processes to cut time and share costs. With a geospatial inventory, transportation agencies can determine priorities and set those priorities with a ROI-focused approach.

Applications for Mobile LiDAR and Point Cloud Analysis

Mobile LiDAR and Point Cloud Analysis help departments of transportation and localities make data-driven decisions to effectively manage the state’s transportation assets. Applications of this technology also serve as a valuable tool for emergency planning, disaster response, and community resiliency in the face of climate change. Infrastructure plays a significant role in these efforts, creating a need to better manage and invest in infrastructure improvements.

With PILLAR’s AFES, data can be instantly extracted and processed as 3D environmental models – increasing efficiency, transparency, and better planning.

An innovative application of Mobile LiDAR with point cloud analysis for mowing management won the Virginia Department of Transportation – Staunton District the Environmental Agency Award. In collaboration with PILLAR, the team discovered it could allocate thousands of mowing acres as stormwater pollutant offsets. The discovery led to a 15,800-pound reduction in nitrogen, saving VDOT about $12.8 million in mitigation projects and nitrogen-credit purchases.

PILLAR Point Cloud Analysis in Miami, Florida

Save Time, Save Money, Save Lives

With the advances in surveying technology like Mobile LiDAR and point cloud analysis, asset management firms can help deploy effective asset management plans that will save time, save money, and save lives. PILLAR is trusted by departments of transportation that manage some of the largest state-maintained highway systems in the country to do exactly that. We help organizations make value-based decisions that proactively manages risk for the long-term needs of your asset base.

Contact us at info@pillaroma.com or (276) 223-0500 to discuss your asset management plans with a PILLAR expert.

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LiDAR-Based Mapping Method for Mowing Management Earns VDOT-Staunton District Environmental Stewardship Award

Mobile LiDAR Scanning Highway

An innovative application of LiDAR-based mapping for mowing management implemented by the Virginia Department of Transportation -Staunton District is saving the agency millions of dollars annually by converting interstate rights-of-way into pollinator habitats. The innovative program just earned VDOT’s Staunton District the coveted agency’s Environmental Stewardship Award.

VDOT’s Staunton District Roadside Manager Scott Nye and Interstate Maintenance Contract Administrator Guy Tyrrell needed a better way to track vegetation mowing so they collaborated with PILLAR Operations & Maintenance Advisors to develop a solution.

PILLAR worked with Tyrrell and Nye to leverage LiDAR-based mapping and PILLAR’s proprietary automated feature extraction (AFES) software to quickly and efficiently identify VDOT acreage that requires mowing. The approach provides a highly accurate way to measure and track mowing costs and allows quick and easy adjustments to mowing operations. More importantly, the data from the LiDAR mapping method enabled the team to see a  better solution– a large percentage of the interstate rights-of-way could be set aside for pollinator habitats without compromising public safety or roadside aesthetics.

The Staunton District has now allocated more than 5,100 acres of mowing operations to only once per year in the fall. This acreage set aside as meadow can be transplanted into stormwater pollutant “credits” to support the total maximum daily load pollutant reduction requirements VDOT’s MS4 permit. The conversion of mowed turf into a meadow condition equates to a 15,800-pound reduction in nitrogen that would otherwise reach the Chesapeake Bay, saving VDOT about $12.8 million in mitigation projects and nitrogen-credit purchases.

Learn more about how Pillar can work with your DOT or municipality to see the bigger picture and develop cost-efficient transportation asset management solutions.

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Mobile LiDAR Improves Safety By Reducing Need for Work Zones

PILLAR Mobile LiDAR

Transportation surveyors are frequently exposed to significant danger from traffic as they work to collect the asset data required to maintain, build, or repair infrastructure.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that transportation incidents accounted for 76% of roadway work zone fatal occupational injuries between 2011 and 2017. In 60% of these transportation events, the worker was struck by a vehicle in the work zone.

Clearly, roadway operations and maintenance require a safer, accurate, and efficient way to collect infrastructure asset data.

Reducing Traffic Exposure with Mobile LiDAR

A Mobile LiDAR scanning system is the efficient way to inventory transportation assets and their condition at highway speed, eliminating the need for a static work zone that impedes traffic flow as surveying staff conduct their work. Instead, Mobile LiDAR collects data from a vehicle driven at posted speed limits and creates a digital 3-D representation of existing road conditions within the right-of-way.

Mobile LiDAR scans the conditions of infrastructure assets like pavements, guardrails, mowing acreages, bridges, highway signs, and more. Mobile LiDAR takes transportation asset management to the next level, collecting massive amounts of data with speed, precision, and cost-efficiency. Complete surveys in a fraction of the time it takes with traditional survey methods and yield higher quality data for optimal operations and maintenance plans.

Advantages of Mobile LiDAR

  • Easily identify the location of all your transportation assets.
  • Gather robust data while mitigating exposure to dangerous working conditions for employees.
  • Avoid the extra cost and man-hours that come with work zones.
  • Reduced exposure to road accidents and other roadway related injuries.
  • Advanced collection methods ensure accurate asset data and rapid data extraction.
  • Integrate asset data with existing databases and workflows.

Minimize Employee Risk and Maximize Productivity With PILLAR

With advances in surveying technology, the transportation industry is investing in innovative asset management solutions to improve operational efficiencies, optimize budgets, and ensure employee safety in the field.  

As a transportation asset management firm, PILLAR houses advanced technological solutions like Mobile LiDAR, drone aerial collection, street level imagery, and geospatial inventory to locate your assets and identify their condition. Our robust approach to asset management merges technology with specialist expertise to optimize, develop, and execute tailored asset management plans to secure O&M funding and improve the service level of all infrastructure assets.

Partner with PILLAR today and discuss with our experts to figure out the best way to augment your staff safely, reduce traffic interference in your communities, and collect transportation asset data quicker and more accurately than ever before.  

Contact us at info@pillaroma.com or (276) 223-0500 to discuss our Mobile LiDAR solutions and more.

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Drive Safe, Work Safe, Save Lives

National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week is April 26 – 30

National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 26-30, is a timely reminder for motorists to stay alert for DOT and other workers. In 2020, work zone crashes and fatalities increased, despite lower traffic volumes due to COVID-19.

Distracted Driving Costs Lives

Even a small mistake by a driver or worker can be disastrous in and around a highway work zone. Highway workers are in a high-risk category, but statistically, motorists are even more at risk. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), most fatalities in work zones are motorists, not highway workers. The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse – which collects federal data – reported that in 2019, there were over 760 work zone fatal crashes that resulted in 842 deaths.

National Efforts to Increase Work Zone Safety

To combat this significant public safety issue, 48 states have banned text messaging for all drivers, while 25 states, including Virginia, prohibit all drivers from using handheld cellphones while driving. Using a handheld cell phone while driving, and especially in a work zone, can be a deadly choice.

Defensive Driving Tips for Work Zones

  1. Stay focused and alert in a work zone: DO NOT use a cell phone, change the radio, eat, apply makeup, or create a distraction from the road.
  2. Research your route. When possible, try to avoid work zones altogether and use detours when available. 
  3. Lane closures and reduced speeds are common in work zones. Slow down when entering a work zone and pay careful attention to the presence of workers and machinery.
  4. Move into an open lane as soon as possible when approaching a lane closure. Remember to pay close attention to other vehicles around you, particularly in your blind spot.
  5. Avoid trucks of all types when possible. They usually have limited visibility and cannot maneuver as well as smaller vehicles. Give them a lot of room in all driving situations.
  6. Because rear-end crashes are the most common types of collision in work zones, always maintain extra following distance between vehicles. Four seconds is the recommended following distance.
  7. Turn on your headlights, even if it is not required by law. It is good ‘driving practice’. Headlights ‘on’ is the equivalent of wearing a high visibility vest on your vehicle. This helps other drivers identify your presence.

Be Alert. Risks Abound Outside Work Zones

The risks and challenges associated with highway travel are not confined to defined work zones. There are numerous other activities on a road that can easily create impairment to safe travel, such as mowing, litter pick up, snow & ice control, law enforcement activity, animal hazard, standing water, pavement defect (i.e., pothole), etc.

While work zones are usually well marked with signage and devices, most of these other impairments offer minimal advance warning to motorists. The combination of ‘Boots on the Ground’ (that would be Pillar!), a distracted or impaired driver, failure to reduce speed or any of the other risks noted above can prove to be costly, if not deadly, if you aren’t paying attention.

When transiting work zones, remember to be patient and stay focused.

PILLAR employees and other work zone crew members across the nation diligently strive to improve our infrastructure and make the roads safer for everyone. Join PILLAR next week as we raise awareness for work zone safety.

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Transportation Asset Management: A Vital Tool In Community Resiliency Efforts

Disaster Relief with Asset Management

In recent years, local municipalities and the federal government have invested millions to make their cities more resilient and prepare for natural disasters, along with mitigating the imposing threats of climate change. Local and federal governments are realizing the critical role transportation infrastructure plays in assisting in disaster and climate adaption efforts and are searching for ways to increase community resilience, improve aging infrastructure, and decrease flood risks with transportation asset management.

Investing in Resilience and Sustainability

In 2017, the City of Miami passed a $400 million general obligation bond, with half of the investment funding community resilience, disaster, and climate relief efforts. This includes reducing flooding risks, mitigating rising sea levels, enhancing public safety, and improving infrastructure. As of March 2021, there are 7 on-going projects in the city to assess transportation assets and improve infrastructure.

In February 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration awarded a $1.1 million grant to the Miami Conversancy District in Dayton, Ohio to protect communities from flooding and upgrade Dayton’s levee system. The grant is matched with a $276,254 local investment, all focused on supporting key infrastructure improvements in the Miami Valley.

Challenges of Resiliency Planning and Disaster Management

From mitigating flooded roadways to effectively planning emergency routes, community resiliency plans start with a comprehensive and accurate assessment of all transportation assets, including pavement condition, stormwater management systems, bridges, tunnels, signage, medians, and guardrails—just to name a few. 

A significant challenge for most asset management and disaster prevention systems is the lack of a reliable infrastructure asset collection, leading to delays in response time. In terms of the cost to human lives and properties, delays can be hazardous for disaster management agencies. A robust asset management and analysis system is required to ensure that the asset condition is properly assessed, so accurate insights for improving the asset are found.  

With lives at stake, effective transportation asset management requires industry expertise and next generation technology to make informed decisions based on data.

PILLAR’s Mobile LiDAR collects massive amounts of data with speed, precision, and cost-efficiency. This system helps us complete surveys in a fraction of the time compared to traditional survey methods. As a result, higher quality data is collected to develop effective emergency response and community resiliency plans and secure appropriate budgets for repair and ongoing maintenance.

With Mobile LiDAR’s fully Automatic Feature Extraction System (AFES), data can be instantly extracted and integrated with existing databases – increasing efficiency, transparency, and better planning.

BE PREPARED WITH PILLAR

Municipalities across the nation are using transportation asset management data to better prepare and protect their communities against natural disasters and the imposing threats of climate change. This is where PILLAR comes in. Equipped with the best asset management experts and advanced technology, PILLAR efficiently collects transportation asset data, accurately assess asset conditions, develops, and executes asset management plans to maintain and optimize their performance against climate change and natural disasters.

As a transportation asset management firm, we help organizations save time, money, and face (by preventing public outcry in the case of a disaster). Partner with us today and help the communities that you serve be more resilient.

Contact us at info@pillaroma.com or (276) 223-0500 to discuss your asset management plans with a PILLAR expert.