| Snow removal machinery plays an important role in securing the smooth flow of road traffic. However、 there was previously no way to obtain a detailed overview of the progress of local snow removal operations in real time. Accordingly、 in FY 2005、 the Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau introduced the Information Management System for Snow Removal Machinery (referred to below as the core system)、 which is capable of monitoring machinery behavior and gathering related information through the use of the GPS.[*]With the introduction of the core system、 the real-time progress of snow removal operations can be checked on a map、 and past operation records can be reviewed. The system is also expected to contribute to upgraded and more efficient road maintenance and management including coordination of snow removal at a snow disaster. [*]The goal of this development is to achieve a more efficient and upgraded road maintenance and management service by establishing a management system for snow removal machinery that enables the flexible shifting of snow removal sections by connecting a variety of types of snow-removal-related information based on the core system. The setup is mainly developed and field-tested for its dynamic section shift support system、 which enables flexible shifting of snow removal sections、 and its support system for daily reports on de-icer application to organize the operations of spreader vehicles (i.e.、 application areas and amounts).[*]Thanks to this system、 the progress of snow removal operation in each section can be checked due to the sharing of real-time information on the positioning of snow removal machinery and the progress of operations between road administrators/snow removal contractors in neighboring sections. In addition、 the efficiency of overall snow removal efforts can be improved by shifting the boundaries of snow removal sections to help areas that fall behind in snow removal operation. Furthermore、 the resulting detailed information on the application of de-icers can be utilized as basic data to indicate proper application operation. |
