Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 1(2): 1-5, 2009 ISSN: 2040-7467 © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2009 Submit Date: April 06, 2009 Accepted Date: May 22, 2009 Published Date: August 31, 2009 Corresponding Author: A.S. Adedimila, Department of Civil and environmental Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria 1 Generating Thematic Displays for A Simplified Pavement Information and Management System for A Developing Country Using Matlab Application A.S. Adedimila, A.O. Olutaiwo and Orolu Kehinde Department of Civil and environmental Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria Abstract: The trend in the development of most sophisticated Pavement Information and Management Systems (PIMS) is to thematically display the results of the analyses in GIS environment. However, for a developing country such as Nigeria, there is always the challenge of lack of mastery and skill necessary to develop and maintain a PIMS based on GIS.The thrust of the research work was to develop thematic displays for a simplified PIMS, based partly on ArcGIS, and MATLAB. Paper map of the federal road network for Nigeria was digitized in ArcGIS environment and transferred to MATLAB environment. The resulting database (of the digitized road map) was merged with the parent database of the PIMS in Microsoft Access, such that, the results of all the various analyses performed within the MATLAB environment are also displayed thematically in MATLAB. Key Words: PIMS, thematic display, GIS, MATLAB, referencing systems INTRODUCTION The road transport infrastructure in Nigeria consists of 34,340.95 km of federal high ways including seven major bridges across the Niger and Benue Rivers, the Lagos ring road and the third mainland axial bridge (FMWH, 1999). Currently, there is no comprehensive management system for inspecting, recording, analyzing, prioritizing and programming highway maintenance works. The ability to integrate data from a variety of sources and provide summarized, strategic information in an easily understandable format for decision makers is also lacking. In order to obviate the above mentioned challenge, a computerized but simplified PIMS was constructed and validated. The rating system adopted is the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) method. For the thematic display of the results of the PIMS, an interface was constructed within Matlab environment. This interface is capable of displaying pavement management activities and provides information in thematic maps, charts and graphs. Generating Digital Road Network Maps: Usually, the first aspect of digital management of infrastructure such as road network starts with the production of existing paper road network map in digital format. Many methods have been variously adopted over the years including conversion of hard copy maps (produced with manual cartographic techniques and updated using ortho- photography) into digital format (Higgins, 1996). Existing paper maps have also been converted using large format tablet digitizers, personal computer and software such as Arc/Info software. There is also a record of Global Positioning System (GPS) and video being used to obtain centre line survey of 28,000km long national road network in the Philippines (Lagunzad, et al., 2003). In this work, the most-updated paper maps of the federal roads network of Nigeria were obtained and digitized within ArcGIS/ArcInfo environment. Concept of Referencing Systems: The primary purpose of the referencing system is to accurately define and identify the road network. The reference or indexing system used by a PIMS affects the utility of the system. The data used for PIMS are located and stored according to two main methods: • Using management units (e.g., link/node) or • Based on a location referencing system. Traditionally, PIMS data collection has used linear location referencing methods, such as route name and mile-post/logpoint (AASHTO, 2001). In the route name and milepost referencing method, each roadway is given a unique name and number and the distance along the route from a specific origin is used to locate points along the route. The distance units are usually marked with signs placed along the route (e.g., mileposts) to determine the position of linear or point events or data collection points in the field. One of the problems associated with this method is that the locations of the signs do not always agree with the actual location of the mile referenced when measuring using a DM I. However, because of the increased use of GIS, automated data collection equipment and Global Positioning System (GPS), coordinate-based referencing methods are becoming popular. The most common