An ICT System for Gravel Road Maintenance – Information and Functionality Requirements

The gravel road network is an important function for rural residents and entrepreneurs. Traditional maintenance of gravel roads is well-functioning but provides a relatively high maintenance cost per unit length of the road, and every maintenance action as well as extraction and transport of new gravel contributes to increased climate impact and resource depletion. Today, maintenance planning is carried out periodically based on the maintenance history, which also is reflected in the economic models and procurement methods. Current maintenance plans may be enhanced and will not be a reliable basis in the future, e.g. due to climate change. Instead, real needs and conditions must be given greater consideration. Today, appropriate maintenance management systems are lacking, e.g. in order to be able to evaluate maintenance deficiencies, prioritize objects and choose the appropriate maintenance action. Moreover, the knowledge available at specific stakeholders is not shared with other actors. In this paper, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) system for gravel road maintenance is proposed in the form of a cloud-based system covering the information needs of stakeholders in the gravel road maintenance ecosystem. Requirement specifications are given for the sub-systems intended for the maintenance executioner and the maintenance planner. The specifications are based on workshops and interviews conducted with stakeholders, where requirements were acquired e.g. in the form of User stories.