Web-based solution will increase efficiency, reduce costs on infrastructure work

PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato today announced that the Department of Public Works will use Envista Corporation’s map-driven web application to coordinate hundreds of construction and maintenance projects in public rights-of-way. The County maintains 810 lane-miles of road, more than 520 bridges, and more than 12,000 acres of parkland and related facilities.

“As County Executive, one of my chief goals has been streamlining government and saving taxpayers money,” said Onorato. “Envista will enable the County, PennDOT, municipalities and utility companies to easily exchange information and coordinate construction and maintenance projects via the Internet. This will reduce street cuts, save on paving costs, and lessen impacts on neighborhoods and commuters during the paving and construction season.”

Envista’s distributed Internet mapping capabilities will enable the County to provide information to different agencies and users simultaneously, making the system more efficient. The program uses modern web technologies to create a simple, convenient and cost-effective way for organizations to coordinate infrastructure projects. Traditionally, governments and utilities have manually compiled lists of planned projects and circulated them to various agencies and companies for input, a process that costs valuable time and money and does not always result in optimized coordination or communication.

The County is paying $29,500 for the system, but the enhanced coordination will result in an estimated cost savings of more than $55,000 per year, easily recovering the implementation cost. The reduction of pavement cuts will also extend the life of County roadways, resulting in additional savings over time.

Implementing Envista’s system will also help to reduce the County’s carbon footprint by approximately 889 tons of CO₂ annually, equivalent to the emissions of 202 cars. Improved paving coordination will save the energy equivalent of 8,612 barrels of oil annually. These savings will increase as additional municipalities join the Allegheny County system. Furthermore, regional coordination will assist Allegheny County in seeking federal and state funding for projects that have been optimized in terms of multi-agency participation.

“Our selection of Envista is timely because it meets the requirements of the County’s utility coordination initiative and ordinance to use a web-based solution and provide a single reference for all projects planned in rights-of-way,” said Public Works Director Joe Olczak. “We’re pleased that Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania is the first major utility company serving our area that will coordinate with Allegheny County using this innovative technology.”

In March 2009, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, which serves 412,000 people in 26 counties, announced that it would use Envista to manage its 20-year gas pipeline replacement program. Envista expects more Western Pennsylvania counties, municipalities, and utilities to follow Allegheny County’s example and adopt its software in the near future to take advantage of the project planning information and to improve the lines of communication.

Envista software has previously been implemented in a variety of municipalities, including Baltimore, Norfolk, and Sacramento.

# # #

Envista Press Contact:

Belinda Jones, HiTech Marketing, 860-399-1147, belinda.jones@hitechmarketing.com 

Envista Marketing Contact:

Martha Bednarz, Envista Corporation, 978-232-6305, martha.bednarz@envista.com

Envista is a provider of web-based software for the management oversight of infrastructure that is built and maintained by utility companies and government agencies. The company provides the only centralized, map-driven solution for the exchange and coordination of construction and maintenance projects online. Envista’s patent-pending solution for infrastructure project coordination leverages construction budgets and optimizes the planning of utility and roadway projects while reducing the impact of street cuts on local communities. Envista headquarters are located north of Boston in Beverly, Mass.

For more information, visit www.envista.com or call 978-232-6300. A demo is also available at www.envista.com/demo.

 Print Version