Improving Snow Plowing Operations with Mobile GIS

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

The Henrico County Department of Public Works (DPW) maintains its own secondary road system, and, therefore, is responsible for all its maintenance needs. DPWs snow removal program recently went paperless, using Geographic Information System (GIS) as the system of record for tracking the snow removal efforts and the subsequent issues that arose from infrequent plowing damages. The enhanced system allows for dispatchers to communicate directly with individual foremen for rapid response or other special needs. Additionally, the system provides real-time, visual reference to aid executive and senior staff in decision making. This GIS system was created at virtually no additional cost. The foremen used county issued tablets, smartphones, and ruggedized laptops with GIS functionality enabled by the county’s Enterprise Licensing Agreement with ESRI. Immediate successes included eliminating paper copies, having instant access to statuses of all snow removal equipment and plows, reducing costs associated with traveling out of the office during storms for inspections, tracking downed utility lines and other hazards impacting travel, and providing readily available documentation for risk management damage claims.