Q: I took the attached photo from my car (it was at a stoplight; I was not moving). It was a large van-type vehicle. Hope you can see the cameras that were sticking out all over it. Have you ever seen one of these? What is it?
— Jack Helffrich, Upper Macungie Township
A: I hadn't seen a contraption such as this one, Jack, until your photo steered its way onto my email deck. You and I both surmised that it might be a video van of some sort, possibly shooting footage for one of the excellent on-line mapping services.
We were on the right road, basically, or at least heading in the right direction. This particular ARAN van — automatic road analyzer — has been hired by PennDOT to shoot the footage for the state's VideoLog service.
The Warrior took a drive on VideoLog Road about a year ago, describing the service that allows engineers to take cyber rides on roadways throughout the state, assessing road-surface conditions to determine what needs to be fixed, and when.
The virtual rides along the Lehigh Valley's highways and byways are available for public view via PennDOT's website (you'll have to follow a few steps on a road map from there, but it's pretty straightforward).
PennDOT has one video van of its own, but most of the VideoLogging is done by contract providers, the current company being Fugro Roadware Inc. of Mississauga, Ontario, near Toronto. An image of the same type of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van you saw, Jack, is posted on the VideoLog site (Sprinters also were sold as Dodge models when Daimler-Benz owned Chrysler Corp.).
Fugro provides the video views using a high-definition camera mounted in the "turret" above the windshield, according to Senior Project Manager Allan Venema.
Other equipment, mostly mounted to the rear of the vehicle, uses lasers and cameras to assess the condition of the road. A laser in the box at the rear bumper points directly at the road to measure surface roughness based on a commonly used scale, Venema said. You might be able to see a red spot on the road when this instrument is operating.
The vertical arms on each side of the vehicle's rear use lasers to measure rutting — the wheel-path depressions created by continual traffic, even on solid concrete surfaces, Venema said. When they get too deep, the ruts can collect water, creating dangerous tire hydroplaning.
Mounted on horizontal stems extending from the roof at the back are downward-facing high-def cameras that take images of the road surface; the two views are combined to form a view of the entire road, measuring "pavement distress," or the different forms of surface cracks, Venema said.
The system categorizes the cracking. For example, transverse cracking running horizontally across the road result from the freeze-thaw cycle, while vertical cracks running in the direction of traffic flow are stress fractures caused by the punishing force of traffic, he said. Different repair methods can apply do different types of pavement distress. GPS units continually track the ARAN's position, making problem areas easy to locate with precision.
In addition to providing a convenient view of the roadways for engineers (or for the public), the video images can be used to help confirm or better interpret information provided by the laser systems, Venema said.
The video views provided panoramic images of video logging are only one of many services.
PennDOT engineers also can check out roadway geometry, traffic signs and signals and other features without the need to visit the sites.
PennDOT spokesman Sean Brown indicated that it takes two years to cover the specified roads statewide that are examined by the system — about 27,000 miles' worth each year covering all National Highway System routes (including interstates).
Fugro is in the second year of a two-year contract extension worth about $2 million per year, with the possibility of a third and final two-year extension, according to PennDOT.
Fugro uses up to four two-person vehicles at a given time to fulfill the Pennsylvania contract, working from April 1 to Nov. 30, Brown wrote in an email.
Other states use ARAN vehicles, some through private contractors like Fugro and others by purchasing the equipment and hiring their own employees. Seems like another high-tech engine providing road-condition assessments more efficiently than us old-fashioned human warriors could manage.
Road Service: In Monday's column on PennDOT's construction-debris dump on the southeast quadrant of the Route 309 Tilghman Street interchange, I said the few trees the state removed from the northwest corner of the site, close to the Route 309 bridge, had posed no sight obstruction whatsoever for traffic using the ramp from 309 north to Tilghman east. That is correct.
However, PennDOT engineer Dennis Toomey noted that other trees on the site — those lining the embankment at the southern end, alongside the ramp, posed a different sight obstruction. Motorists going from eastbound Tilghman to northbound 309 sometimes could not see that a line of cars had formed ahead of them, around a right-turning bend in the ramp, because those trees blocked the view of the ramp ahead, Toomey explained. Many rear-end accidents resulted, and the removal of those particular trees should address that problem, he said. So, while my point remains, I wanted to steer the legitimate view through Toomey's windshield onto the road as well.
Road Warrior appears Mondays and Fridays, and the Warrior blogs at mcall.com. Email questions about roadways, traffic and transportation, with your name and the municipality where you live, to hartzell@mcall.com, or write to Road Warrior, Box 1260, Allentown, PA 18105-1260.
