Kajima / Optical fiber for road management, grasping the position and speed of traveling vehicles
Installing a cable-shaped optical fiber sensor (provided by Kashima)
Kajima used a section of the Atami Kaigan Expressway (Atami Beach Line) in Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture for the first time to conduct a demonstration test using optical fibers to determine the position and speed of traveling vehicles in real time. A cable-shaped optical fiber sensor is laid on the road. As a result of measuring the vibration generated on the road with a high-performance measuring instrument, we were able to obtain precise information such as the position of all vehicles traveling on the test section, confirming that it can be used as a road management tool.
In 2021, the company established Atami Infrastructure Management LLC (Minato-ku, Tokyo, President Toshio Taikochi) for the purpose of Kashima Road and road maintenance, etc., and is engaged in the business operation of the Atami Beach Line.
Of the total length of approximately 6.1 kilometers, the section from the Kadogawa tollgate on the Tokyo side to the 65-meter point was set as a demonstration test section, and a cable-shaped optical fiber sensor was laid on the division line between the roadway and the road shoulder. Focusing on minute pavement vibrations, measurements were taken using a high-performance distributed optical fiber measuring instrument. We were able to clearly grasp the information of vehicles traveling in the test section from the vibration, and confirmed that it can be used as a tool to supplement patrols and surveillance cameras necessary for road management.
In the future, we will expand the optical fiber measurement section and work on detecting vehicle weight, detecting the occurrence of overtopping waves unique to coastal roads, and evaluating road surface conditions due to rainfall and temperature changes. Utilizing the acquired data, we will also proceed with demonstration of digital road technology for road management solutions for infrastructure operators and road information provision services for drivers.
