Exploring the use of digital twins for effective maintenance of footway assets

The effective operation and maintenance of footway assets is critical for ensuring pedestrian safety, mobility, and the sustainability of urban infrastructure. Traditional maintenance practices, characterized by periodic inspections and reactive repairs, are often inefficient and costly, resulting in high costs, heightened safety risks and suboptimal resource allocation. This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for the application of digital twin (DT) technology in the management of footway assets, addressing these inefficiencies.

Digital Twins (DTs) leverage real-time data and predictive analytics to offer a transformative approach to infrastructure management. This study begins by reviewing current footway maintenance practices, revealing several limitations. For instance, periodic inspections detect issues only after they become significant, leading to an average increase in repair costs by 30-50%. Reactive repairs further delay necessary interventions, with a study indicating that 25% of footway accidents occur due to delayed maintenance responses.

The proposed DT-based framework integrates continuous monitoring, predictive maintenance, and standardized condition assessments. By employing IoT sensors and advanced data analytics, the framework enables real-time detection of footway conditions, predicting potential issues before they manifest physically. This predictive capability is expected to reduce maintenance costs by up to 40% and improve safety by decreasing the incidence of accidents by 20%.

The findings of this study suggest that digital twins can significantly improve the safety, reliability, and cost-efficiency of footway maintenance operations. This paper contributes to the growing body of knowledge on smart infrastructure management and provides a foundation for future research and practical implementation of digital twins in urban environments. The proposed framework not only addresses the current deficiencies in footway maintenance but also sets the stage for more resilient and sustainable urban infrastructure management practices.