City paving analysis includes pro crew, $700,000 van

Infrastructure Management Services (IMS) Crew Chiefs Jason Johnson and Roberto Ortiz have driven more than 600 miles of Las Cruces streets since December, using nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in laser-guided technology to assess the condition of the streets and then help city officials determine paving priorities.

Based in Tempe, Arizona, IMS is a private company contracted by the City of Las Cruces to analyze paving conditions and develop a plan to deal with paving issues. Using “innovative technology and proprietary processes,” IMS has completed similar projects for more than 600 city, county and state agencies across the country, with Johnson saying he has driven roads in 46 states in the past 18 months for IMS – using 15 different software platforms.

Johnson and Ortiz said their IMS van drops two laser lines behind it as they drive, creating computer data and video to measure depth, texture, width, cracks, distortions and other paving features. Based on that analysis, paving conditions are rated A-F, Johnson said.

“Such a compilation of distortions” would be difficult and expensive for Las Cruces or just about any other city to collect and evaluate on its own, Ortiz said.

“Preservation of existing roads and street systems has become a major activity for all levels of government,” said city Public Works Director David Maestas. “There is a shortage of funds to maintain street systems at the state and local government levels. Therefore, funds that have been designated for pavements must be used as effectively as possible. One proven method to obtain maximum value of available funds is through the use of a pavement management system, (which) is the process of planning, budgeting, funding, designing, constructing, monitoring, evaluating, maintaining and rehabilitating the pavement network to provide maximum benefits with available funds.

To address pavement conditions and street reconstruction to protect the investment made in its transportation infrastructure and get the most for its money, the city has invested almost $214,000 in a pavement-management program “that serves as a systematic and scientific tool to evaluate our streets to determine need, priority and appropriate pavement maintenance treatment to ensure that the overall roadway condition does not drop, and therefore the city can save millions of dollars in the long term by preventing overall roadway failure,” Maestas said.

For more information, visit www.imsanalysis.com.