The city of Mexico will be using some new advances in technology to make the public works department operate more efficiently.
Deputy City Manager Drew Williford presented the items to the …
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The city of Mexico will be using some new advances in technology to make the public works department operate more efficiently.
Deputy City Manager Drew Williford presented the items to the Mexico city council at a regular meeting on May 22 at City Hall. One resolution would allow the city to enter into an agreement with Horner & Shifrin Inc. to upgrade the city’s Geographic Information System (GIS) and the other resolution is an agreement with Tiger Eye Engineering for a pavement evaluation process that uses elements of artificial intelligence (AI).
According to documents presented to the council by the staff the new GIS system would provide an online interface to, “disseminate information to the public as well as to assist city staff in asset management.”
Williford said the system will follow Missouri dig right laws and will save city staff a lot of time. Williford said those looking to dig will be able to see where public utility lines are buried using the city’s GIS maps. The project will cost the city $13,782. The new system will also assist the city by making it easier to view zoning districts and floodplain boundaries and make it easier to develop quantity estimates for construction projects.
The second resolution would allow Tiger Eye Engineering to use machine learning/deep learning to automate the pavement rating process for the city to provide a more detailed evaluation.
“This one has my full curiosity,” Williford told council members.
Currently, city staff drive the 80 centerline miles of public streets every two years and give the pavement a score using the Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) system that scores the pavement with a value of 1-10. City engineers then use the evaluations to determine a street maintenance or replacement plan for the roadway.
Williford said Tiger Eye will drive all 80 miles using a camera system that will upload images to a computer that has been trained to identify cracks and categorize them. Williford said the system uses AI concepts.
“Don’t think of this as something where it’s true artificial intelligence,” Williford said.
Only a few cities have tried the new technology. Williford said the city will also use the company to identify where there are curbing and gutter issues.
“We’ll be able to prioritize roadways very objectively here with all of this,” Williford said.
