The difference is in the deliverables

Garver’s Aviation Team works each day to help airports plan for future improvements. That effort included developing a pavement management tool, PowerPM, which allows clients to utilize business intelligence tools to efficiently manage pavement condition data and maximize the benefits of infrastructure funding.

Garver’s PowerPM dashboard provides state agencies with the ability to move beyond a static inventory of pavement conditions, allowing state agencies to dynamically update funding conditions. This tool provides insights on the effect funding allotments have on overall statewide pavement conditions, a critical component to funding justification.

And nowhere is PowerPM’s capability more evident than in a recent project with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). Garver’s Wichita Aviation Leader Caleb Coltrane, PE, helped provide KDOT with the platform that allowed the Department to manage pavement projects statewide. Coltrane noted that KDOT’s previous system didn’t provide efficient access to critical data, meaning it lacked an efficient way to evaluate data and make decisions accordingly.

Garver was tasked with inspecting more than 100 Kansas airports, providing a clear picture of pavement conditions at every airport in the state. Utilizing a dynamic, comprehensive portal to access each airport’s pavement condition data allowed KDOT to project the funding needed to maintain its critical airfield pavement infrastructure. In this Q&A, Coltrane discusses how the tool was implemented and the benefits realized by KDOT.

Does utilizing an online dashboard for pavement management change the inspection process?

No. The inspection process did not change – the Garver team captured the distresses, scored the pavement, and provided overall conditions. However, the difference was in the deliverables to each airport and KDOT.

Rather than providing just individual reports, the online dashboard allowed any airport in the state to access a dynamic, comprehensive portal for information in real time. PowerPM allowed each airport manager to view their distresses, the list of pavement issues (cracking, weathering, or more significant failures), and the quantity or scale of the problems. Garver was also able to GPS reference all of the site photos of the pavement and add those to the dashboard. That approach provided each airport around the state a clearer picture of current pavement conditions and a better understanding of the funding needed to improve them, a critical goal for KDOT. 

How does the addition of a work history feature benefit the project?

Garver added a work history tool as another benefit to KDOT’s platform. In the past, a statewide inspection would occur, and that data would be referenced for up to five years. But if you were to execute a project, like a mill and overlay of a taxiway, there wasn’t a way to go back and update the inspection data to reflect the newly overlaid taxiway condition.

Since Garver’s dashboard is dynamic, that means that when projects get done, that information can be updated in the dashboard. This ensures KDOT’s dashboard is always up to date with current pavement conditions, rather than just depending on data that’s years old, a unique bonus to the Kansas program.

How was communication improved among project stakeholders?

Garver’s PowerPM dashboard also serves as a communication tool, turning a complex network of pavement data into a simplified inventory and budgeting tool that non-engineers understand.

Proper pavement management requires powerful insights, sophisticated decision-making tools, and intricate budgeting capabilities. PowerPM offers all that and more. In the words of PowerPM users? “We love it.” So much so that Garver is now doing a second task order to start looking at additional airport facility needs, such as hangars, terminals, and NAVAID infrastructure. 

To learn more about Power Pavement Management, contact Garver Aviation below.