Lyttelton Port Company (LPC) manages approximately 50 hectares of paved surfaces across three operational sites. These surfaces are subject to constant wear from heavy machinery, cargo operations, and environmental exposure, making effective condition monitoring critical for operational safety, efficiency, and stormwater compliance. Historically, condition assessments were conducted manually, requiring engineers to walk the sites, record observations on paper, and produce hand-drawn sketches that were later digitised. This labour-intensive process could take several months, introduced a high risk of error, and made accurate forecasting and decision-making difficult.
LPC has implemented an innovative GIS-based solution that has reduced effort by over 400 hours annually. With leadership support and investment, high-resolution drone imagery is now used to map the entire paved network. Engineers conduct targeted field inspections using ArcGIS Field Maps, enabling real-time data capture, including photos and GPS-referenced condition ratings. Each pavement segment is rated for condition, repair type, and timeframe, with repair areas automatically calculated. Dashboards display condition data across all sites, enabling immediate access to maintenance histories, future needs, and repair priorities.
This system contributes directly to SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) by promoting sustainable asset management and enhancing urban infrastructure resilience. By digitising and centralising data, planning accuracy has improved, budgets are more precise, and interdepartmental communication is more effective. Operational teams can now contribute data from the field, improving responsiveness to issues. This digital approach has improved safety, reduced environmental risk, and increased transparency.
LPC’s GIS-based pavement management solution demonstrates practical innovation, strategic leadership, and measurable efficiency gains. Supporting documentation, visual dashboards, and aerial mapping outputs are available to demonstrate impact and replicability across other ports and infrastructure sectors.