Smarter Maintenance - Meet the students
Meet the students
Want to help us develop tomorrow’s solutions for a safe and sustainable road network? Would you like to establish contacts within the industry and academia? Then you should write a dissertation for the SMARTer maintenance project! You will gain valuable experience of a highly sought-after discipline, while developing solutions that are actively used by contractors.
We need more knowledge of the measures that are required to meet existing and future challenges. The SMARTer maintenance project offers you a unique opportunity to contribute to socially beneficial research by developing the technologies and methods the industry is looking for.
You will have an expert team and an extensive support system behind you when you take on challenging and exciting assignments. Contacts within the Norwegian Public Roads Administration or other contractors will give you access to the tools and resources you need. We want you to succeed and will arrange everything so you can realise your potential.
Want to create a better and safer road network by writing a dissertation for SMARTer maintenance? There are plenty of opportunities spanning multiple disciplines. See the examples below for inspiration, and contact the Science Team to find out more.
Below you can see some examples of students and projects within R&D.
How realistic are estimates of greenhouse gas emissions?
The bachelors students investigate:
Bachelors students Johannes, Ingeborg and Erik have been tasked with checking the accuracy of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s figures for greenhouse gases and emissions. There is significant uncertainty about the accuracy of these figures. The students’ task is to check the estimates against the actual figures from contractors, and to develop improvement methods if possible.
The students report that they were pleasantly surprised at how many people helped them get the assignment done efficiently. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration and the contractors gave them access to important resources and the tools they needed, and provided full follow-up along the way.
How can we stop roads from flooding in a steadily deteriorating climate?
The engineering student investigates:
Weather conditions will only get tougher and more heavy rain and flooding will wreak further havoc on roads. Both in the short and long term. Erosion damage and impaired traffic safety in heavy rain, reduced load carrying capacity and deeper water penetration in superstructures cost society a great deal of money.
There was no system for condition assessment of drainage along the roads when Marius first started. The existing practice of function-based follow-up presents a number of difficulties. He wants to take a proactive approach.
Now we know that we will have more flooding and heavy rain in future, it is important to find a way to deal with it. Changes in drainage processes will benefit lots of people – not just the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, but also the county authorities and municipalities,” explains Marius.
Marius urges other students to sign up. He is delighted to be able to contribute to socially beneficial research involving stimulating challenges and assignments, while benefiting from fantastic opportunities to establish contacts in the industry and academia.
How can we maintain old bridges in a safe and sustainable way?
Ph.D student Frida investigates:
Norway has an abundance of old bridges from the 1960s and 1970s that will require maintenance to remain safe and fit for purpose into the future. How can we identify weaknesses and optimally preserve the bridges? Ph.D student Frida Liljefors wanted to investigate.
The aim was to find new, sustainable solutions for preserving old bridges rather than building new ones. The focus is on condition analysis of bridges and how we can identify whether a bridge is at risk of collapsing or experiencing other structural problems. Frida wants to quantify uncertainty factors and calculate risk probabilities. This will make it possible to introduce sustainability measures where the bridges are repaired depending on their condition.
I focus on load carrying capacity. At present, bridges in Norway are not collapsing, but how long will it be before this happens? How can we streamline processes and make maintenance cost-effective and efficient? Sustainability is important, and I am delighted to be able to contribute through this project,” explains Frida.
Frida has no doubts why you should join the project: You learn so many new things about maintenance of road infrastructure. These skills are highly sought-after by employers, and having contributed to a socially beneficial project such as SMARTer maintenance will put you in a strong position.