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NHAI’S NETWORK SURVEY VEHICLES

November 2, 2025November 2, 2025| Ai generated article, credit to orginal websiteAi generated article, credit to orginal website| 0 Comment| 12:19 am
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NHAI’S NETWORK SURVEY VEHICLES

Why in News

  • The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has announced that it will deploy Network Survey Vehicles (NSVs) in 23 states, covering 20,933 km of National Highways (NHs).
  • These vehicles will be used for collection, processing, and analysis of data related to road inventory and pavement condition, identifying surface cracks, potholes, patches, and other defects.
  • The initiative is part of NHAI’s effort to ensure scientific and data-driven road maintenance following criticism over the poor condition of highways leading to accidents and fatalities.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INITIATIVE

  • To conduct comprehensive highway condition surveys using advanced sensor-based vehicles.
  • To collect and analyse pavement condition and road asset data for maintenance and planning.
  • To upload collected data to the Road Asset Management System (RAMS) in the prescribed format for centralized access and analysis.

BACKGROUND

  • Policy Guidelines (2019):
    • Since 2019, NHAI has had guidelines mandating that NSV-based surveys be conducted by the authority’s engineer and an independent engineer before issuing completion certificates for new highway stretches.
  • The new assignment (2025) expands the scope — aiming for nationwide, large-scale condition assessment of existing National Highways.

HOW NSVs WORK?

  • The 3D laser-based NSV system automatically captures and reports defects without human intervention.
  • Data will be collected for 2/4/6/8-lane projects, both before work starts and every six months thereafter.
  • The collected information will be used for pavement maintenance, asset management, and infrastructure planning.

INTEGRATION WITH ROAD ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

  • RAMS (also known as Datalake) has been developed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
  • It aims to create a single, unified road database for:
    • Planning and budgeting
    • Management and maintenance of the entire National Highway network
  • Ensures systematic and scientific life-cycle analysis of highway assets.

SCOPE OF THE 2025 NSV SURVEY

REGIONAL COVERAGE

  • No bidder will be awarded more than one package, ensuring wider participation and accountability.

SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS

  • The NSV survey will capture 13 types of pavement defects, including:
    • Crack measurement
    • Ravelling
    • Patch area
    • Potholes
    • Edge break
    • Roughness
    • Rutting
    • Lane marking condition (+ other defect types as per TOR)
  • It will also record road and terrain details, including:
    • Carriageway type
    • Road type
    • Pavement and shoulder width
    • Topography and median details
    • Right of way (ROW)
    • Utilities and land use patterns

IMPLEMENTATION & MONITORING

  • NHAI has invited bids from qualified private firms to implement the survey.
  • Each selected firm will be responsible for data collection, processing, and uploading to the RAMS.
  • Surveys will be repeated at six-month intervals, enabling real-time monitoring of highway health.

SIGNIFICANCE

CHALLENGES

  • Ensuring regular data updates and proper integration with RAMS.
  • Maintaining equipment calibration and data accuracy across 23 states.
  • Coordination between NHAI engineers, contractors, and data agencies for timely corrective action.

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