Use of Cellular

Use of cellular/mobile office technology

Background:

There has been interest from ODOT’s district offices in implementing cellular/mobile office technology to help streamline the construction project management process. There has also been concern that an exorbitant amount of money is spent on traveling between worksites and on on-site trailers for construction management teams. We are interested in what other DOTs have done to help streamline the construction project process along with any technologies that have been implemented to help do so.

Results:

 10 DOTs responded to the survey

 3 (30%) indicated that they have taken steps to help streamline the construction project process

o Georgia is using webinars and training/certification classes to help streamline construction. They are also looking into using CA4PRS, a design program, to help improve the overall staging of construction.

o Michigan uses laptops to transfer data from managing office to the field via the internet. The tested using Palm devices in 2006/2007 but was decided that they were not worth the investment. MDOT has also tested “The Field Book/OnSite Interface Pilot” to help streamline the construction process and they are currently working with other DOTs to create a national construction/materials field data gathering solution.

o Nevada uses laptops with secure VPN connections to help fieldworkers access and share information. They are currently testing the use of a Mobile Device Management cloud solution called MaaS360 that would allow for the distribution of tablets to fieldworkers. There would then be a DOT app store, where workers download required programs to use in the field. The cloud service would also allow office managers to send important data/information to workers on site.

 7 (70%) indicated that they have not implemented any changes to address this situation.

o Louisiana noted that once their web based site managers materials is launched, it will more than likely be supported by handheld devices.

o Wisconsin tried a handheld implementation program but it was not successful.

o Texas commented that their Construction division has done some work on this issue but that no formal evaluation has been conducted.

Implementation:

ODOT has recognized the need to improve construction project streamlining but has thus far not undertaken any formal evaluation or review. We plan on conducting further research into this topic in the upcoming year.