Innovative Road Project Improves Sedalia's Infrastructure

A high-tech van is coming to Sedalia and will traverse our local streets starting Monday. It looks like a cross between a storm chaser's van and a Google car snapping photos for Google Maps. It's neither of those things, but it might lead to a smoother ride around Sedalia.

Sedalia's Public Works Department is launching a project to inventory the condition of all the roads in the City they are responsible for maintaining. This is part of the department's strategic plan to develop a long-term method for street maintenance and replacement. This van from Roadway Asset Services, LLC in Austin, Texas, is here to help.

Roadway Asset Services (RAS) is a nationwide firm that provides professional asset management and mobile data collection services to local and state government agencies. The city council hired this company to help Sedalia's Public Works Department develop its strategic plan.

RAS operates a fleet of Roadway ASSET Collection vehicles that utilize sensors and instruments designed to assess the conditions of roadways and adjacent infrastructure assets.

The RAS van traveling on Sedalia's roadways collecting data is equipped with laser imaging and 360-degree camera systems to collect imagery on all pavements and above-ground transportation assets located within the right-of-way.

The imagery collected will then be analyzed to develop a Pavement Condition Index for each roadway. This will help the City of Sedala's Public Works Department plan for which roads need attention, when, and to what extent. The City believes this data is imperative to help stretch the City's funding and keep the streets in the best condition possible.

The City says the RAC van will travel on all roadways maintained by the City of Sedalia during daylight hours and at posted speed limits, and it shouldn't impact traffic at all.

So, when you see the van while you're out next week, there's no reason to be puzzled. We should all wave to the driver and give him or her a hearty Sedalia welcome.

See the Must-Drive Roads in Every State

Gallery Credit: Sarah Jones

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli

Filed Under: sedalia public works department