Introduction
In 2015, Mandli Communications collected data on the sidewalks and walkways around the Wisconsin State Capitol building and the Monona Terrace in Madison, WI. The purpose of the project was two-fold: to create an inventory of assets, and to ensure the sidewalks and walkways complied with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) safety standards, including sidewalk width, cross-slopes, curb ramps, trip hazards, damage to pavement, and encroachment by plant life.
Challenge
One of the biggest challenges to urban data collection projects such as this one is that typical mobile collection equipment is limited to the roadways. Urban areas often have locations that restrict the use of motor vehicles, such as parks and pedestrian malls. Mobile data collection vehicles may be able to reach the perimeter of these areas, but can’t reliably collect the entire area.
In this situation, alternative choices include manual rating or the use of a stationary scanner. Neither of these options proved to be an acceptable alternative for this project. Manual rating is incredibly time-consuming and is not reliably accurate for safety standards. Meanwhile, a stationary scanner is not ideal for covering such a large area, as it must be moved repeatedly.
Maverick Solution
Mandli used a Segway equipped the Maverick, a portable and powerful spatial data collection system, to collect data on the sidewalks and walkways around the Wisconsin State Capitol building and the Monona Terrace. One of the biggest benefits to Maverick is its portability, which allows for the ability to mount it on various platforms to suit the needs of each project. The Segway mount proved invaluable for mobile data collection in an area where motorized vehicles are restricted.
The collection process took one engineer approximately three hours to complete, including setting up the Maverick on a Segway, collecting the sidewalks around the Wisconsin State Capitol building and Monona Terrace, and detaching the Maverick and mount.
Mandli: the leader in mobile data collection.
Results
The data emerging from Maverick was run through the Maverick’s included Distillery software to prepare the data for use with a variety of third party viewing, post-processing, or reduction softwares. Mandli used their own internal processing software to identify assets and review the sidewalks for ADA safety compliance. Then, areas were marked where the sidewalk needed improvement in order to reach ADA compliance.
See the Project in Action
Sidewalk data is often difficult and costly to collect. With the Maverick on a Segway, the sidewalks downtown and around the capital building in Madison, WI are easily collected.
