Evaluation of HeadLight: An E-Construction Inspection Technology

Traditionally, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) has relied on a primarily paper-based process for field data collection. Mobile technology (defined as hardware and software that can be used in concert to allow integrated data collection, access to project-related information, and real-time communication capabilities) continues to improve and become more affordable. This research project explored the feasibility of replacing the traditional, paper-based inspection process with a cloud-based, mobile project inspection technology named HeadLight, piloting this technology on over 50 projects across four districts in Louisiana. A materials module was also developed. Inspectors using HeadLight experienced a 28 percent increase in productivity when creating and submitting daily work reports (DWRs). The increase in productivity for Department-wide adoption is estimated to exceed 117,000 hours per year. Inspectors collected and shared 1.9 times more observations while increasing the number of photo and other media observations which contributes to a more complete record of the project and provides immeasurable value to DOTD. Project inspectors using HeadLight provide more complete and consistent data tagged with time and location metadata. DWRs are automatically generated from daily observations eliminating omission and transcription errors with submission rate improvements up to 66 percent completed within 24 hours and up to 82 percent completed within 72 hours. By increasing the timeliness of submitted DWRs, data is more readily available across DOTD. Data stored in HeadLight provides a wealth of material for future training of new employees and even training of existing employees for particularly unique construction scenarios. It was observed that none of the projects using HeadLight had a lost claim that occurred during this pilot study. While more research is warranted, this suggests that HeadLight provided both DOTD and contractors an improved communication platform to resolve issues before they escalated to a dispute and/or claim. It is anticipated that the benefits listed will be more considerable when the technology is further leveraged using big data analytics.

• Record URL:
  https://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2020/FR_618.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2020/ts_618.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/56247
• Corporate Authors:

  Louisiana Transportation Research Center

  Baton Rouge, LA  United States 

  Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development

  Baton Rouge, LA  United States 

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Rupnow, Tyson
  • Coco, Mary Leah
  • White, George
  • Yamaura, Julian
• Publication Date: 2020-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 76p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction projects; Data collection; Feasibility analysis; Inspection; Mobile applications
• Identifier Terms: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
• Subject Areas: Construction; Data and Information Technology; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01776575
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/LA.19/618, LTRC Project Number: 17-6SS
• Contract Numbers: SIO Number: DOTLT1000168
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 14 2021 5:10PM