Smart monitoring systems to improve Bizcay road infrastructure resilience to climate change and natural disasters

ongoing

This Study aims to design and develop a smart monitoring system to centralise real-time information of all road infrastructure assets (tunnels, bridges, slopes, etc.) along all TEN-T road network in the Bizkaia region (Spain). Its ultimate goal is to improve the analysis of road infrastructural behaviour under operational and exceptional climate conditions to make better informed decisions on investments to adapt the road infrastructure to climate events, avoiding or minimising their effects and, therefore, improving the road network resilience. This Study is part of an action launched in 2021 by Bizkaia to implement the BIM management methodology to support in the drafting of roads projects and in the subsequent phases of construction, operation and maintenance, embedded within Bizkaia Road Infrastructure Innovation Plan (2020-2023) and aligned with the goals of L11 of the Spanish National Plan against Climate Change Adaptation 2021-2030. For this Study, digitizing roads consists of transforming the properties, characteristics, and information of the different elements of the infrastructure assets (equipment, inventory, geometry, location, status, maintenance actions, images, etc.) into quality data, in digital format, for subsequent efficient and sustainable management and analysis, using advanced tools based on new technologies. For 36 months, it is planned to develop digital models (BIM) of at least 11 tunnels, 30 road structures (bridges, viaducts) and 190 km of roads (including also signalling). As a result, it will be developed a common management tool (Web interface) to combine the information from several database sources and the digital twin of the road network. This tool will serve to carry out vulnerability assessment of the Biscay Road Ten-T network, leading to the identification of its critical sections and assets, which will be used by road authorities to make decisions on the investments needed for the adaptation of roads towards climate change.