KYTC Guardrail Warrant Analysis

Roadside embankments can create significant safety concerns when vehicles leave the roadway. Evaluating them takes measurements of shoulder geometry, embankment height and slope, and distance from the roadway. Traditional field and office methods work, but they are hard to scale across large highway networks.

KYTC needed a way to use LiDAR data it already had to:

• Automatically measure roadside geometry
• Consistently apply Kentucky-specific guardrail warrant criteria
• Rapidly analyze large roadway networks
• Provide GIS-ready results
• Support engineering judgment

RDV Systems configured RSA 3D with Kentucky-specific embankment and guardrail evaluation criteria, and automated the analysis across 122.7 roadway miles in 12 roadway segments, in about four hours of analysis time.

Working from mobile LiDAR KYTC had already collected, RSA 3D turned millions of LiDAR points into measurable roadway cross sections and automatically evaluated the pavement, shoulders, embankment height, slope and distance from the roadway.

RSA 3D identified 389 guardrail warrant segments, totaling 8.98 miles, across the 122.7 roadway miles analyzed.

Roadside geometry was evaluated every 10 feet in both travel directions, a detailed and consistent assessment of embankment conditions. Instead of manually reviewing large volumes of LiDAR data, KYTC received a dataset of the specific locations where measured conditions met the guardrail warrant criteria. Engineers could focus their review there, with an objective basis for comparing and prioritizing potential safety improvements.

RDV delivered the results in formats built for engineering, GIS, planning and safety workflows:

• A summary of findings report
• GIS shapefiles and comma-delimited data
• Browser-based reports
• Detailed cross-sectional measurements

The pilot showed how transportation agencies can get more value from the LiDAR they already have. Data collected for mapping and asset management can also support automated roadway safety analysis, so agencies can evaluate more roadway, consistently, with less manual review.

It also showed the potential to extend automated analysis beyond individual corridors to whole roadway networks. Applying consistent criteria across large datasets, agencies can identify potential deficiencies, focus engineering resources and prioritize locations for further investigation.

RSA 3D turns LiDAR and roadway data into actionable safety intelligence by automating complex geometric measurements and applying an agency's own evaluation criteria within a repeatable 3D environment. It helps agencies identify potential deficiencies, focus engineering review, prioritize improvements and make better-informed, data-driven roadway safety decisions.

Beyond embankments, RSA 3D also evaluates sight distance, horizontal and vertical curves, flat spots, vertical clearance, shoulder geometry and other roadway safety conditions.