The Ministry of Transport has contracted a high-tech company to evaluate road safety and assess road damage.

The company will also develop software programs to analyze data and issue estimates on maintenance budgets.

The ministry took the decision after deeming traditional maintenance methods “no longer feasible,” asserting that there is an urgent need to adopt more modern and advanced methods in managing road maintenance.

The ministry said the Kingdom’s roads are very old. According to a report issued by the ministry at the end of last year, there are more desert roads than asphalted ones and dual carriageways. Desert roads extend 138,000 km, whereas asphalted roads only cover a distance of 60,000 km.

Around 22,000 km of roads are being implemented across the Kingdom and around 14,000 km are being upgraded from single carriageways to dual carriageways and eventually to highways.

The report revealed that the current road network involves more than 5,000 overpasses, 70,000 water drainage pipes and 122 underpasses.

These facilities are visually inspected by teams and are subject to laboratory testing.

The ministry contracts around 70 maintenance companies through Saudi contractors. Contractors usually conduct cleaning operations and minor repairs on a daily basis using both equipment and manpower.

The report showed that the ministry owns advanced checking equipment, including seven machines, four of which assess asphalt surfacing, two ensure sound layering and one scans and evaluates road signs. The report also revealed plans to establish a database of roads connected to overpasses, underpasses and water drainage pipes.

The database will also include the total number of roads across the Kingdom, their length and locations, the extent of damages and the budget needed for repair.

In the meantime, the ministry plans to fill road cracks with asphalt. In addition, water drainage pipes are regularly cleaned to ensure water drainage in the event of rain.