Survey of the City to Use New Technology

The City of Palmerston North is to be surveyed by new state of the art equipment over coming days.

A standard car is used with a three metre mast on the roof that has eight separate cameras and GPS equipment mounted to it. The 39 mega pixel cameras are used to capture streets in Palmerston North in a similar manner to that used by Google street view.

The resulting video footage will be used by Palmerston North City Council staff to check assets and identify any defects or repair work needing to be carried out. The images will link directly to the PNCC database and enable asset managers to see details of the age and model of an asset along with the maintenance history.

Rob Campbell Programmes Team Leader said he was pleased with the way the images would be able to link directly to Council databases.

“This new technology will make us more efficient, and save a lot of time out driving around the City.”

This type of survey occurs every three years and the information gathered is not available to the public. This is the first time this new equipment has been used in New Zealand.

The survey should be completed by Friday 7 October 2011.

The cameras will be taken to Auckland on completion of work in Palmerston North to be used by the Auckland Transport Authority.