NHAI’S NETWORK SURVEY VEHICLES

• The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has announced that it will deploy Network Survey Vehicles (NSVs) in 23 states, covering 20,933 km of National Highways (NHs).
• These vehicles will be used for collection, processing, and analysis of data related to road inventory and pavement condition, identifying surface cracks, potholes, patches, and other defects.
• The initiative is part of NHAI’s effort to ensure scientific and data-driven road maintenance following criticism over the poor condition of highways leading to accidents and fatalities.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INITIATIVE

• To conduct comprehensive highway condition surveys using advanced sensor-based vehicles.
• To collect and analyse pavement condition and road asset data for maintenance and planning.
• To upload collected data to the Road Asset Management System (RAMS) in the prescribed format for centralized access and analysis.

BACKGROUND

• Policy Guidelines (2019):
  • Since 2019, NHAI has had guidelines mandating that NSV-based surveys be conducted by the authority’s engineer and an independent engineer before issuing completion certificates for new highway stretches.
• The new assignment (2025) expands the scope — aiming for nationwide, large-scale condition assessment of existing National Highways.

HOW NSVs WORK?

• The 3D laser-based NSV system automatically captures and reports defects without human intervention.
• Data will be collected for 2/4/6/8-lane projects, both before work starts and every six months thereafter.
• The collected information will be used for pavement maintenance, asset management, and infrastructure planning.

INTEGRATION WITH ROAD ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• RAMS (also known as Datalake) has been developed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
• It aims to create a single, unified road database for:
  • Planning and budgeting
  • Management and maintenance of the entire National Highway network
• Ensures systematic and scientific life-cycle analysis of highway assets.

SCOPE OF THE 2025 NSV SURVEY

REGIONAL COVERAGE

• No bidder will be awarded more than one package, ensuring wider participation and accountability.

SURVEY SPECIFICATIONS

• The NSV survey will capture 13 types of pavement defects, including:
  • Crack measurement
  • Ravelling
  • Patch area
  • Potholes
  • Edge break
  • Roughness
  • Rutting
  • Lane marking condition (+ other defect types as per TOR)

• It will also record road and terrain details, including:
  • Carriageway type
  • Road type
  • Pavement and shoulder width
  • Topography and median details
  • Right of way (ROW)
  • Utilities and land use patterns

IMPLEMENTATION & MONITORING

• NHAI has invited bids from qualified private firms to implement the survey.
• Each selected firm will be responsible for data collection, processing, and uploading to the RAMS.
• Surveys will be repeated at six-month intervals, enabling real-time monitoring of highway health.

SIGNIFICANCE

CHALLENGES

• Ensuring regular data updates and proper integration with RAMS.
• Maintaining equipment calibration and data accuracy across 23 states.
• Coordination between NHAI engineers, contractors, and data agencies for timely corrective action.