Category: PILLAR Talk

Expect the unexpected. It may seem like a contradiction but that’s what it takes to efficiently deploy a rapid response to highway incidents. Preparation can be the difference between an incident and a disaster. Whether you’re dealing with accidents, snow and ice, or flooding, you need a plan and the ability to carry it out.

With budgets and schedules stretched thin, it can feel impossible to stay ahead of daily maintenance much less prep for unknowns. That’s why you need a partner like PILLAR. Our experts can help you develop preparedness plans that protect your budgets, make your resources go further, and enable you to rapidly respond to highway incidents.

Plan to Stop Traffic Chain Reactions in Their Tracks

In transportation asset management, we do everything we can to prevent accidents from happening. While we work toward a world with zero accidents, it’s prudent and safe to plan for them if and when they happen.

Accidents range from small fender benders that slow traffic for a few minutes to catastrophic pileups that impact hundreds and disrupt normal infrastructure function. Whether accidents happen from snow and ice, flooding, or collisions, when lives are on the line, minutes matter. Here’s how PILLAR can help you plan, execute, and minimize damage.

• Get Real Time Alerts: Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), we can outfit some assets with sensors that immediately notify you of issues. For example, internet-enabled sensors can be placed on guardrails to immediately register collisions, allowing you to deploy resources faster.
• Coordinate with Emergency Services: We specialize in interagency communication and can develop relationships EMS, wreckers and tow trucks. Paired with an emergency response vehicle plan critical emergency services can respond to distressed motorists quickly.
• Rapidly Mobilize Equipment & Personnel: We can help you develop a proactive plan that makes use of your existing resources in the most efficient way possible, so you aren’t left scrambling when an incident happens.
• Manage Debris and Optimize Traffic: Accidents, snow and ice, flooding, or debris can all cause major issues for roadways. We can create debris removal priorities and develop a plan to optimize the flow of traffic impacted by obstructions.
• Mitigate Hazards and Damage: With a proactive plan, you can improve response times and keep hazards and damage from accruing.
• File Claims Faster: Pillar offers site investigation and claim management. The team at PILLAR can gather detailed information at the site of a traffic incident including time, date, location, photos, and law enforcement contacts. We even generate estimates and create a claims package for your accountant so you can file 3rd party damage claims faster and more efficiently.
• Maintain Compliance: PILLAR makes it our business to stay up to date on the latest compliance mandates and with our staff augmentation we can prevent task backlog and keep you in compliance.
• Incident Reporting: Our team of technical writers specialize in clean, concise, and accurate documentation. We can produce documentation of any incident, freeing you up to manage your assets.

Get Stellar Planning and Execution from PILLAR

Highway incident response requires a thorough plan and rapid action. We can use data to build a numbers-backed budget and plan from the ground up so you’re always prepared. What’s more, our experienced team helps you execute your operations and achieve peak performance by managing contracts, personnel, budgets, equipment, and more.

At PILLAR, we specialize in collection, assessment, planning, and execution to help you utilize your resources efficiently and maximize the lifecycle of your assets. Contact us to learn more about how we can help with your highway incident response.

The average American driver spends 55 minutes behind the wheel every day. While they notice obvious assets like guardrails, traffic signs, and pavement markings, less visible assets may fly under the radar. These assets often do some heavy lifting when it comes to driver safety, but can go unnoticed by the general public until something goes wrong.

One such asset is the guardrail end treatment. These often-overlooked assets play a huge role in protecting drivers in the event of impact. But they can only do their job if they’re properly maintained. With thousands of guardrail terminals in Virginia alone, maintaining them can be a full-time job and PILLAR can help. Keep reading to learn how.

Guardrail End Treatments: The Unsung Hero of Roadway Safety

Guardrails are designed to keep wayward vehicles on the road, particularly near embankments, curves, bridges, and steep drop-offs.

Guardrail end treatments may seem simple, but they’re carefully designed to reduce the severity of accidents when drivers collide with the end of guardrails. Their rounded, flared, or softened ends prevent vehicles from being pierced by the guardrail itself. They work to absorb energy from impact, gradually slowing a vehicle rather than abruptly stopping, which reduces the force of the crash. Guardrail end treatments also facilitate the collapse of the guardrail itself, so it peels away from the car, absorbing impact and slowing the crash.

In short, guardrail end treatments are designed to work with guardrails to comprise a complete system of protection in the event of a crash. But this only works if the guardrail end treatments are properly installed and well-maintained.

Best Practices: How to Maintain Your Guardrail End Treatments

Guardrail end treatments are robust structures, but they’re still vulnerable to the elements, age, and improper installation. Over time, they can accrue damage from the elements, road salt, and brine. The best way to maintain your guardrail end treatments is through regular inspections and proactive management. This includes:

• Looking for any damage, corrosion or signs of wear and tear
• Ensuring the energy-absorbing impact mechanisms are operating efficiently
• Clearing debris and vegetation away from the end treatment
• Identifying and remediating any issues with alignment, height, or improper installation.

Proper installation is critical for optimal functioning of guardrail end treatments. Don’t mix-and-match guardrails and terminals, follow all manufacturer specifications, and ensure the end terminals sit at the correct height. 

Collection & Assessment: Know the Condition of Your Guardrail End Treatments

Regular inspections are the key to maintaining guardrail end treatments that keep the traveling public safe. But that isn’t as simple as it sounds. As of 2022, VDOT estimated that there were 150,000 existing guardrail end treatments within the highway system that all need monitoring and maintenance.

At PILLAR, we specialize in maximizing the lifecycle of your assets. We’re experts in helping departments of transportation make limited resources go further through our comprehensive CAPE approach. When it comes to guardrail end treatments, our professionals can leverage our proven blend of human expertise and cutting-edge technology to rapidly collect data and assess the condition of your assets. Here’s how it works:

• Collection: We utilize mobile LiDAR to collect 3-D data on existing road conditions at highway speeds. But that’s not all. We’re proficient at plan sheet georeferencing, imagery scanning, CIS mapping, and traditional surveying. We do what it takes to get the job done.
• Assessment: PILLAR is the only company that offers truly automated feature extraction that processes your data in real-time as it’s being collected. We can extract more than 20 asset types and deliver the processed data to you in a format that works with your existing systems.

Get Control of Your Guardrail End Treatment Maintenance

Don’t guess when it comes to the location and condition of your guardrail end treatments. Work with PILLAR to streamline the assessment and maintenance of these critical assets and get peace of mind that you’ve done everything you can to keep drivers safe. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you keep your guardrail end treatments in good working order.

Safety Rest Areas were originally designed to reduce crashes caused by driver fatigue. They’re as vital as they are complex. Rest areas contain dozens of assets that need regular maintenance and care. To add to the complexity, most rest areas were built half a century ago, without consideration of disabled motorists.

The cost of non-compliant rest areas is steep: it creates a hazard to the traveling public and leaves your department open to heavy fines. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates accessibility requirements on public infrastructure, including safety rest areas. While you know upgrades are critical, it can feel impossible to execute with an already overtaxed workload. If you’re struggling to upgrade your rest areas, PILLAR can help.

Are Your Rest Areas Accessible to All?

According to federal requirements, a safety rest area should, “provide facilities reasonably necessary for the comfort, convenience, relaxation and information needs of the motorist.” To ensure your safety rest areas are inclusive to the needs of all motorists, your rest area should include a number of accommodations.

Pathways and Parking: Your rest area should have a sufficient number of accessible parking spaces, proper pavement slopes of 2% or less, and pathways that are free of obstacles and wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs. Wheelchair ramps should have slopes that meet regulation requirements. It’s also important to remember that pathways with slopes steeper than a 6-inch rise require handrails.

Entrances: All stairs should include handrails. However, building codes state that anything less than three steps does not require a handrail. At PILLAR we advocate going above and beyond codes and try to avoid stairs for maximum safety.  All entrances should feature automatic doors or doors that are easily operable. 

Bathrooms and water: Restrooms should be wheelchair accessible and include grab bars and lowered counters. It’s crucial to ensure sink clearances and plumbing are installed to allow legs to maneuver beneath them. Stalls are required to have appropriate swing and turning clearances and water fountains should be installed at appropriate heights. 

Signage: Signs should be posted at appropriate heights and include compliant reflectivity, visibility, and braille. 

Outdoor facilities: Picnic tables must be accessible to provide for rest and relaxation of all motorists. Additionally, the pathway cover must be conducive to wheelchairs and walkers and cannot be comprised of gravel or stone.

Curb ramps: These are required where accessible routes have a level change greater than half and inch. They must be installed and constructed properly with the appropriate slopes and landing areas and include a detectable warning strip.

PILLAR stays up to date on all ADA requirements. When you work with us, you’ll have an expert advisor to help monitor your contractors and direct your updates to exact specifications.

Stay on Top of Your ADA Compliance

It can feel overwhelming to tackle so many upgrades at once, but with PILLAR on your side you can take control. We specialize in maximizing the lifecycle of your assets through collection, assessment, planning, and execution. Through our proven blend of human expertise and cutting-edge technology, we can efficiently inspect your rest areas and assess their condition against current ADA guidelines so you’re not left guessing about the status of your compliance. We can even help you budget with our accurate, bottom-up approach so you can plan with confidence. 

ADA requirements are regularly amended to ensure that facilities and services reflect the up-to-date needs of citizens with disabilities. That means that even after updates, your safety rest areas could fall out of compliance. PILLAR stays up to date with the latest ADA regulations. We can conduct regular inspections and make recommendations for continuous updates to ensure that your rest areas remain ADA compliant and in good repair. With PILLAR on your side, your rest areas will meet or exceed current standards. 

Schedule your free consultation and learn more about how PILLAR can help you streamline ADA compliance for your safety rest areas.

When maintaining your pedestrian greenways and bicycle paths, you need a partner you can trust. Keeping these green spaces safe, accessible, and enjoyable for all users requires strategic planning for operation, maintenance, and continuous improvement.

At PILLAR, we use today’s leading technology to gather the data you need to do just that, no matter the size of your greenway.

PILLAR recently partnered with the Virginia Department of Transportation to successfully inventory and pinpoint needed repairs along the 51-mile Virginia Capital Trail between Williamsburg and Richmond. We inventoried over 11 different types of assets trail-wide, assessed their conditions and created a comprehensive maintenance management plan to address those repairs.

Here are some key aspects of any greenway asset management plan:

Mapping & Documentation

PILLAR uses fully automated Mobile LiDAR to gather comprehensive inventories of greenways and bike paths. This provides precise mapping and documentation of all assets and generates high-resolution data to then create effective management and maintenance strategies.

Condition Assessment

PILLAR has the expertise and experience to then accurately assess the current state of greenway and bicycle path assets, detailing the structural and aesthetic conditions of its assets and helping managers prioritize maintenance tasks based on urgency and budget. This includes both automated and boots on the ground assessments.

Routine Maintenance Plan

A routine maintenance plan is critical to keeping greenways and bicycle paths in pristine condition year-round. This plan should include your regular tasks of vegetation management such as brush and tree trimming and mowing as well as pavement maintenance, sidewalk and bike path edging, and upkeep of amenities like benches, picnic areas, and public restrooms. Regular maintenance also extends the lifespan of your greenway.

Responsive Repair Plan

A responsive repair plan immediately addresses safety hazards and keeps pedestrian greenways and bike paths safe for all users.

Comprehensive Asset Collection

For asset management to have impact, it needs a comprehensive collection of all greenway and bicycle path assets. Key assets that should be documented include:

• Signage
• Pavement condition (potholes, cracks)
• Lighting
• Pavement markings and reflectivity
• Roadway crossings
• Benches
• Picnic areas
• Vegetation (brush and tree trimming, mowing)
• Sidewalk/bike paths
• Sidewalk/bike path edging
• Wooden sidewalks/boardwalks
• ADA compliance features
• Pavilions
• Bike racks
• Bike repair stations
• Trash bins
• Information stations
• Handrails
• Public restrooms

A Trusted Partner

Asset management for pedestrian greenways and bicycle paths requires detailed planning and execution by a partner you can rely on. By leveraging advanced technologies like Mobile LiDAR and implementing thorough maintenance and repair plans, transportation asset managers can ensure these pathways, from the Virginia Capital Trial to your community’s greenway, remain safe and enjoyable for all users.

Contact PILLAR today to learn how our proactive collection, assessment, planning, and execution can support your greenways and bicycle paths.

Hurricane season brings significant threats, from powerful winds to devastating floods, as well as risks to both lives and property.

For transportation asset managers, your best defense is a proactive response plan that anticipates potential damage and puts protective measures and resources in place before you need them. 

PILLAR stands out in disaster preparedness efforts with its comprehensive collection and assessment services, ensuring you’re ready for the storm whenever it arrives.

Take a Proactive Approach to Disaster Preparedness

Highway slopes and signage are particularly vulnerable during hurricanes. 

Signage can be torn down or damaged by high winds and heavy rains, impacting navigation and safety for the traveling public. Knowing the precise location and condition of these assets prior to a hurricane allows for an efficient after-storm inventory to identify what needs to be replaced. 

Slopes are prone to erosion and landslides under the force of heavy rainfall, adding new hazards for travel. These slides can be deadly which is why stabilization is priority No. 1 and why having an experienced partner matters. PILLAR worked with a DOT to implement slide prevention by identifying over 15,000 square yards of slopes to be stabilized. 

In both cases, data is critical. With data you can prioritize repair and replacement efforts, reduce downtime and restore normal travel faster and efficiently, as well as document repairs for reimbursement purposes. 

Know the location of your assets

When a hurricane is approaching, you don’t want to be guessing. PILLAR provides its partners with robust data and resources through our proven CAPE approach: collection, assessment, planning, and execution. Our imagery scanning technology powers data collection at highway speeds to give you an unrivaled understanding of your assets at street level.

PILLAR’s collection services ensure thorough asset documentation which facilitates efficient recovery post-disaster. Our commitment to knowing the location of assets means that when a hurricane strikes, you can swiftly identify what needs attention, streamlining the restoration process.

Know the condition of your assets

PILLAR’s assessment services, particularly our Automated Feature Extraction System, offer a cutting-edge solution for evaluating asset condition. Our technology enables rapid assessment of damage, providing critical insights for decision-making. By knowing the condition of assets beforehand, you can better anticipate potential vulnerabilities and take preemptive measures to reinforce them.

Contact PILLAR

In times of crisis, having PILLAR as a proactive partner can make all the difference. Our integrated approach to disaster preparedness equips DOTs with the tools and knowledge needed to weather the storm. Contact PILLAR today and be ready to face the challenges of hurricane season head-on.