Twin Falls Begins City Infrastructure Mapping

TWIN FALLS, Id. (News Release/KMVT) The City of Twin Falls has started the process of digitally mapping and analyzing all streets and related assets within the City limits. The process is part of ongoing efforts by the City to make more data driven decisions in addressing infrastructure needs.

The City contracted with TransMap — a national provider of infrastructure management technologies — to map more than 240-lane miles of City streets. TransMap uses a vehicle equipped with laser line projectors, high-speed cameras, and advanced optics to analyze road conditions.

As the vehicle drives City streets, the on-board equipment known as LiDAR captures data about the roadway at a rate of more than one million points per second. In addition, TransMap will also be mapping City assets that include fire hydrants, ADA ramps, sidewalks, and storm drains.

By analyzing literally every square-foot of City streets and combining it with other relevant data, the City can better determine the most cost-efficient maintenance for individual roadways and predict when roads will require replacement -- before they fail.The data will be used to ’score’ streets based on potholes, cracks, and any other stresses on road condition.

TransMap is expected to complete the data collection process during the last week of October. The City will then work with TransMap to analyze the data and store it on existing City systems for future use.

The City budgeted about $135,000 to pay for the digital mapping service, which was in line with the City of Twin Falls’ Strategic Planning objective to use technology and data to more efficiently use time and resources to better serve citizens.