Tracking Traffic Assets Streamlines Maintenance, Including RRF Requirements

With 822 miles of roads and 15,000 traffic signs, the Public Works Department for a city on the U.S. Gulf Coast determined that a sign inventory database would be beneficial for maintenance and management of their traffic signs.

Camcode has been a good company to work with through this process.

The Public Works Infrastructure Management Division began by using handheld computers to collect GPS coordinates, MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) codes, and assessment information concerning the condition of each sign. The entire inventory and condition assessment collection process took approximately one year to complete. From there, the assessment information was used to generate work orders for signs meeting Public Works criteria for replacement.

The Public Works Department then decided to manage the in-house inventory of signs. Recalling the challenges faced obtaining FEMA reimbursements for signs that were destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004, they made the decision to assign bar codes to all signs as they were purchased. This provided a method to capture the purchase invoice information for each sign placed in inventory by bar code number.

That is where Camcode’s bar code label expertise came into play. The Public Works Department needed a bar code label that would be very difficult to remove and one that would not fade in the strong sun during the 7-10 year life span of a traffic sign. After considering other products, the Operations Support Administrator for the Public Works Department teamed up with Camcode and selected Camcode’s Metalphoto® aluminum bar code labels for their superior durability and quality. “The labels are great,” the Operations Support Administrator says. “They do not fade in bright sunlight and stick well to our signs.”

The Public Works Department is now in the process of bar coding all signs in the field. The bar code allows sign maintenance technicians to uniquely identify what signs are replaced or repaired without having to record location information.

In addition, the bar code labels help the city comply with the federally-mandated minimum sign retroreflectivity standards requiring the Public Works department to accurately assess the reflectivity of all regulatory signs. To do this, they purchased a retroreflectometer measuring device, which calculates the retroreflectance of a sign while simultaneously recording the bar code number. This provides the Public Works department with an electronic process for collecting the retroreflectivity readings and updating their sign inventory. The process also allows them to monitor and forecast sign replacements when retroreflectance measurements do not comply with the federal standards.

The labels are great. They don’t fade in bright sunlight and stick well to our signs.

“Camcode has been a good company to work with through this process,” says the city’s Public Works Director. “They had the knowledge and experience to help us select a bar code label that will survive the average life span of our signs.”