Satellite technology to evaluate roadway conditions along SH 130 in Texas

SH 130 Concession Company is using satellite technology to evaluate roadway conditions in order to identify potential problems before they impact safety or ride quality along SH 130 between Austin and San Antonio in Texas.

According to a news release from SH 130 Concession Company, satellites pass over the SH 130 toll road between Austin and San Antonio every six days and provide measurements on over 30,000 points along the roadway.

SH 130 Concession Company operates and maintains the 41-mile southern section of SH 130. The company has partnered with EO59, a U.S.-based technology startup, on this project.

The company says it is one first private companies or public agencies in Texas to use satellite technology to monitor major roadway maintenance conditions on an ongoing basis. The company is using the technology to monitor the full 41-mile length of the state-owned toll road facility that it operates and maintains.

By using this technology, the company can assess the performance of its past maintenance projects and its contractors, as well as predict and mitigate potential future issues.

“We needed an independent, data-driven analysis of our previous roadway repair projects, as well as a tool for looking at future needs and performance,” SH 130 Concession Company Chief Operating Officer Jeff Billows said in a statement. “There will always be a need for in-person visual inspections, but the satellite monitoring allows us to identify areas to concentrate on long before they would be noticed through visual assessment.”

EO59 focuses on using satellite interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to track subtle movements as slight as one millimeter. This project with SH 130 is EO59’s first in Texas.