Research & Technology Transporter (December 1997)

Mobile Inspection Systems Are
Proving Their Effectiveness

The ePeg Daily Diary was a useful tool for the Cypress rebuilding project in California.

In the past, highway engineers collecting field data used traditional paper forms -- often in voluminous quantities to record construction data. This method is time consuming and created inefficiencies in completing, storing, and retrieving documents. Desktop or laptop computers were only marginally helpful in addressing the problem.

Now, mobile (handheld) inspection systems are beginning to change how highway field data is gathered, processed, and used. Mobile systems such as the MessagePad 2000 from Newton, Inc. and the ePeg Daily Diary developed by Bear River Associates, Inc., facilitate timely and accurate data entry. These new mobile inspection systems help eliminate inconsistencies in the reporting of data, present a clearer picture of day-to-day project status, and make it possible to integrate data with engineering, accounting, and other project information. The systems proved very successful in 1996 when the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) began using the ePeg Daily Diary on the Cypress Project, which involved rebuilding a portion of the earthquake-damaged 1-880 freeway.

Caltrans is now embarking on a multi-year program to retrofit seven California toll bridges. Because of its success with the new mobile computer systems on the Cypress Project, Caltrans has current plans to use them again on the bridge retrofit program. They will be used to make daily data collections that are then integrated with other information, creating a system that will manage costs and provide timely project status updates to agency management.
-- Bob Tally, (916) 498-5020.