All paved streets in Pierre will get a health assessment this week.
The City of Pierre hired StreetScan, a specialized contractor, to scan all of the city’s streets with vehicle-mounted sensing technology. The results of the scan will help the city prioritize streets projects for the next several years.
“Street conditions are one of the city’s top priorities,” said City Engineer, Nick Waters. “This is a comprehensive and impartial way for us to identify and prioritize needed street projects.”
According to Waters, the technology can sense potholes, bumps, cracks, and overall pavement conditions.
“We used this system for the first time in 2021 to help us plan our street maintenance and repair program. It can assess in a week what would take staff an entire year to do.”
The StreetScan car will literally drive every paved street in Pierre between Monday, July 29 and Friday, August 2. The data is then aggregated, organized, and uploaded into a GIS system to provide a visual representation of street conditions throughout the community.
“We expect to have the full report back in time to use during the planning process for 2025 street construction,” said Waters.
The City of Pierre employs a variety of tactics to preserve, maintain, and improve city streets. They include curb and gutter improvements to keep moisture from pooling on streets; slurry seal and chip seal processes to fortify streets and protect them from damage; paving projects to provide a fresh surface; and street rebuilds to complete underground utility work and build new street over it.
Pierre maintains more than 80 miles of streets.
