Ealing Council  has implemented an advanced software solution from Mayrise Systems to manage the  co-ordination of works on the highway

MAYRISE Street Works enables the Highways  Management Division of Ealing Council to
automatically receive and process  applications for works from both internal and external
contractors. The system  also facilitates the mapping of intended works, issuing of works licences and  the ongoing monitoring and inspection of works on the  highway.

MAYRISE was previously used by Ealing's Highway  consultants; however in a move to improve customer service and regain control the Council's Highway Management Department brought the Street Works service  back in-house. Supported by Mayrise Systems and the Council's ICT contractor,  the project to move software, data and personnel was completed on schedule with  minimum disruption to the service.

Ealing Council has a statutory  obligation to co-ordinate works on the highway as laid down in section 59 of the  News Roads and Streetworks Act 1991. This function was until recently carried  out by the Council's contractor Mouchel Parkman who used MAYRISE Street Works to  automatically collate street work notices from external contractors, co-ordinate  works on the highway and manage site inspections and defect reporting. Having  decided to bring the Street Works service back in-house Ealing Council had to  minimise the disruption to third party organisations submitting Street Work  Notices, ensure continuity of service and preserve historical information  contained within the system.

We could not have completed this  project without the support of the Council's Highway Management staff, Mayrise  Systems, Mouchel Parkman and Mr Tulga Regis representing our ICT contractor,  Serco said Anselm Igbinigie, ICT Support & Development. We took the system down at 4 o'clock on one day and were up and running by 9 o'clock the next,  having completely restructured the system set up to fit the Council's existing  IT structure. Mayrise then provided additional support and product training to  ensure we were able to get the most out of the Street Works system - their  personnel were highly knowledgeable, friendly and patient.

The  objective of bringing the street works service back in-house was the need to be  fully compliant with the Network Management Duty as prescribed in Part 2 of the  Traffic Management Act 2004 in which local authorities are required to manage  their road network and the network of neighbouring authorities in the most  efficient and safest way.  The major factor causing disruption to the  network is road works and the best management tool to achieve better planning  and coordination of utilities and highways work is through the Street register, Igbinigie continued. "By bringing the street works function back in-house we can  improve the service we provide to residents and third parties and increase our  control of all highways works and services within the 
borough."