JP7520530B2 - Road repair support system, road repair support method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to data processing technology, and in particular to a road repair support system, a road repair support method, and a computer program.

A long time has passed since Japan's road network was developed, and roads are becoming increasingly deteriorated. The following Patent Document 1 describes a technology for acquiring the characteristics of roads on which an inspection vehicle has traveled.

JP 2019-108755 A

As roads continue to deteriorate, the number of roads requiring repairs will increase rapidly in the future, but the entities responsible for maintaining and managing roads (such as local governments) need to repair roads efficiently within their limited budgets.

This disclosure has been made in consideration of the above problems, and one objective is to provide technology that supports efficient road repair.

To solve the above problems, a road repair support system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a first acquisition unit that acquires the road surface health of each of multiple sections of a road, a second acquisition unit that acquires the traffic volume of each of the multiple sections, a utility derivation unit that derives the utility of each section of the road based on the road surface health and traffic volume of each of the multiple sections, and a repair target determination unit that determines the sections on which road repairs should be performed based on the road utility of each of the multiple sections.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is a road repair support method. In this method, a computer executes the steps of acquiring the road surface health of each of a plurality of sections of a road, acquiring the traffic volume of each of the plurality of sections, deriving the road utility of each section based on the road surface health and the traffic volume of each of the plurality of sections, and determining the sections in which road repair should be performed based on the road utility of each of the plurality of sections.

In addition, any combination of the above components, or any expression of the present invention converted between a device, a computer program, or a recording medium storing a computer program, is also valid as an embodiment of the present invention.

This disclosure can help with efficient road repairs.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functional blocks of the road repair support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the utility of each section before repair. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the utility of each section after repair. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the utility of each section after repair. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of derivation of repair costs. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of repair costs for multiple sections. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of recommended repair section information. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of processing traffic volume. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing functional blocks of a road repair support system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the utility of each section when repairs are not performed. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of determining a repair recommended section in the situation of FIG. 11 . FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of determining a recommended repair section in the situation of FIG. 11 .

The subject of the device or method in this disclosure includes a computer. The computer executes a program to realize the functions of the subject of the device or method in this disclosure. The computer includes, as its main hardware configuration, a processor that operates according to the program. There is no restriction on the type of processor as long as it can realize the functions by executing the program. The processor is composed of one or more electronic circuits, including a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) or large scale integration (LSI).

The outline of the embodiment will be explained. The inventor recognized the following problems with road maintenance. (1) Visual inspection of road surface properties requires manpower and time. (2) Road repairs need to be carried out efficiently within a limited budget. (3) The number of roads requiring repairs will increase rapidly in the future. (4) Road usage needs to be quantitatively taken into account.

Currently, software that can easily assess road surface conditions is being developed. For example, software is available that estimates road surface conditions (e.g., automatically estimates the deterioration state of the road surface) from vibration information while the vehicle is traveling on the road by attaching a smartphone to the vehicle. In addition, services are currently being provided that visualize road traffic volume and the amount of people moving around based on GPS positioning functions installed in smartphones, etc.

In the embodiment, a technology is proposed that utilizes such existing technology to support road repair. In the embodiment, a "section" of a road is a unit for road surface property surveys, a unit for traffic volume measurement, and a unit for repairs, and may be determined in advance by an entity that maintains and manages the road (e.g., a local government).

First Example
1 shows the configuration of an information processing system 10 according to a first embodiment. The information processing system 10 includes a user terminal 12, a road surface condition inspection system 14, a traffic flow analysis system 16, and a road repair support system 18. These devices or systems are connected via a communication network including a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, etc.

The user terminal 12 is an information processing device operated by an official of an entity that maintains and manages roads (e.g., a local government), and is, for example, a PC, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal.

As described above, the road surface property inspection system 14 is a known system including multiple computer devices for inspecting the road surface properties using a smartphone or the like. The road surface property inspection system 14 provides an index value (hereinafter referred to as "road surface soundness") indicating the soundness of the road surface of each of multiple sections of the road. The road surface soundness in the first embodiment is a numerical value ranging from 100 points to 0 points that represents the road surface condition of the road. For example, a road surface soundness of 100% indicates that the road is in a 100% sound condition, and a road surface soundness of 0% indicates that the road has depressions and steps and is in a dangerous condition. This numerical value may be performed by the road surface property inspection system 14 or by the road repair support system 18.

As described above, the traffic flow analysis system 16 is a known system including multiple computer devices for visualizing the amount of movement on roads and the amount of movement of people. The traffic flow analysis system 16 provides the traffic volume (e.g., the number of cars traveling per unit time) for each of multiple sections of a road. The road repair support system 18 automatically determines sections for which road repair is recommended from among the multiple sections based on the data input from the road surface property inspection system 14 and the traffic flow analysis system 16. The road repair support system 18 may be realized by a single computer device, or may be realized by multiple computers working together.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the functional blocks of the road repair support system 18 of the first embodiment. Each block shown in the block diagram in this specification can be realized in hardware terms by elements such as a computer processor, CPU, and memory, electronic circuits, and mechanical devices, and in software terms by computer programs, etc., but here, functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these are depicted. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various ways by combining hardware and software. The functions of multiple blocks shown in the block diagram may be implemented in a single computer, or may be distributed and implemented across multiple computers.

The road repair support system 18 comprises a control unit 20, a memory unit 22, and a communication unit 24. The control unit 20 executes various data processing to support road repair. The memory unit 22 stores data referenced or updated by the control unit 20. The communication unit 24 communicates with external devices according to a predetermined communication protocol. The control unit 20 transmits and receives data to and from the user terminal 12, the road surface property inspection system 14, and the traffic flow analysis system 16 via the communication unit 24.

The storage unit 22 includes a section information storage unit 26 and a repair record storage unit 28. The section information storage unit 26 stores attribute information related to each of a plurality of sections of a road. For example, the section information storage unit 26 stores the length of each section (also called "section distance") and the road area of each section. Note that the "section distance" is a value used to calculate the section utility (the utility of the road of each section) described later, but does not necessarily have to be an actual measured value. For example, the section distance can be set to a uniform arbitrary value (e.g., 10 meters) in advance, or can be set to an arbitrary value for each section (e.g., 100 meters for one section, 50 meters for another section, etc.). The utility derivation unit 34 described later simulates the section utility based on the section distance stored or set in advance.

The repair record storage unit 28 stores information about the past road repair records. The information about the past road repair records includes information about the past costs required for road repair. Specifically, the repair record storage unit 28 stores the correspondence between multiple ranges of road area (e.g., less than 10 square meters, 10 to 25 square meters, 25 to 50 square meters, etc.) and the repair cost per square meter for each range (hereinafter also referred to as "cost unit"). Typically, the larger the road area to be repaired, the smaller the cost unit is associated with it. This is because the unit repair cost is reduced by sharing the machines and vehicles used for road repair.

The control unit 20 includes a road surface soundness acquisition unit 30, a traffic volume acquisition unit 32, a utility derivation unit 34, a cost estimation unit 36, a repair target determination unit 38, and an output unit 40. A computer program implementing the functions of these multiple blocks may be stored on a recording medium and installed in the storage of the computer of the road repair support system 18 via the recording medium. Alternatively, the computer program may be downloaded via a communication network and installed in the storage of the computer of the road repair support system 18. The CPU of the computer of the road repair support system 18 may perform the functions of the multiple blocks by reading the computer program into main memory and executing it.

The road surface soundness acquisition unit 30 acquires the road surface soundness of each of the multiple sections of the road from the road surface property inspection system 14. The average value of the road surface conditions for each section may be used as the road surface soundness of each section. The traffic volume acquisition unit 32 acquires the traffic volume of each of the multiple sections of the road from the traffic line analysis system 16. The average value of the traffic volume for each section may be used as the traffic volume for each section.

The utility derivation unit 34 derives the utility of each section of the road based on the road surface health of each section acquired by the road surface health acquisition unit 30, the traffic volume of each section acquired by the traffic volume acquisition unit 32, and the length of each section (section distance) stored in the section information storage unit 26. Utility can be said to be an index value indicating the degree of contribution to society, and can also be said to be an index value indicating the degree of improvement in the convenience of people's social activities. In the first embodiment, the utility of each section is calculated by the following formula 1.
Utility of one section = Road condition × Traffic volume × Section distance ... (Formula 1)
In addition, the utility deriving unit 34 derives the utility before and after the road repair for each of a plurality of sections (including at least sections with a relatively low road soundness level).

The repair target determination unit 38 determines the sections on which road repair should be performed based on the utility of each of the multiple sections of road derived by the utility derivation unit 34. Specifically, the repair target determination unit 38 determines the difference between the utility of each section before the road repair and the utility after the road repair derived by the utility derivation unit 34, that is, the section with a relatively large increase in utility before and after the road repair, as a section with a high priority for road repair.

The cost estimation unit 36 estimates the cost required for road repair at least for sections with relatively high priority for road repair based on the past costs required for road repair stored in the repair record storage unit 28. Specifically, the cost estimation unit 36 derives the repair cost as the product of the cost unit corresponding to the road area of each section and the road area of each section. A section with a relatively high priority for road repair is a section that may be subject to repair, and may be, for example, a section with a road surface soundness of less than 100. In addition, a section with a relatively high priority for road repair may be a section up to a predetermined rank in order of priority (for example, the top 10 sections). As a variant, the cost estimation unit 36 may estimate the repair cost for all sections for which utility has been derived.

The repair target determination unit 38 determines one or more sections in order of road repair priority as sections on which road repair should be performed (hereinafter also referred to as "recommended repair sections") so that the cost of road repair falls within a predetermined amount (specifically, the road repair budget).

The output unit 40 outputs information about the recommended repair section determined by the repair target determination unit 38. For example, the output unit 40 may output an image showing the recommended repair section to the user terminal 12, or may store the image in a specified storage device.

The operation of the road repair support system 18 of the first embodiment will now be described.
The user terminal 12 instructs the road repair support system 18 to derive a recommended repair section. A road surface soundness acquisition unit 30 of the road repair support system 18 acquires the road surface soundness of each section of the road from the road surface property inspection system 14. A traffic volume acquisition unit 32 of the road repair support system 18 acquires the traffic volume of each section of the road from the traffic line analysis system 16. A utility derivation unit 34 of the road repair support system 18 derives the utility of each section of the road.

Figure 3 shows an example of the utility of each section before repair. The section distances in the figure are read from the section information storage unit 26. The utility derivation unit 34 calculates the section utility for each of the multiple sections as the product of the section distance, the road surface health level, and the traffic volume. Note that the road utility in the figure is the sum of the section utilities of multiple sections (Sections 1 to 5 in the figure).

The utility derivation unit 34 of the road repair support system 18 derives the utility of the sections after repair. Figure 4 shows an example of the utility of each section after repair. This figure shows the change in utility when the second section is repaired. After repair, the road surface soundness of the second section becomes 100, and therefore the section utility of the second section increases to 400, and the road utility increases to 2520. Figure 5 also shows an example of the utility of each section after repair. This figure shows the change in utility when the fourth section is repaired. After repair, the road surface soundness of the fourth section becomes 100, and therefore the section utility of the fourth section increases to 200, and the road utility increases to 2580.

When repairing the second section, the utility increases by 120, whereas when repairing the fourth section, the utility increases by 180. Therefore, the repair target determination unit 38 of the road repair support system 18 determines the priority of road repair for the fourth section to be higher than the priority of road repair for the second section.

The cost estimation unit 36 of the road repair support system 18 estimates the repair costs for the second and fourth sections. Figure 6 shows an example of derivation of repair costs. The section distance and road area are read from the section information storage unit 26. The cost estimation unit 36 acquires the cost unit for each section corresponding to the road area of each section from the repair record storage unit 28. The cost estimation unit 36 estimates the product of the road area and the cost unit for each section as the repair cost.

Figure 7 shows an example of repair costs for multiple sections. The figure lists multiple sections in order of repair priority. The repair target determination unit 38 determines one or more recommended repair sections by selecting one or more sections in order of priority within a predetermined budget. For example, in the situation shown in Figure 7, if the budget is 5 million yen, the repair target determination unit 38 determines the top five sections in terms of priority (the 15th, 10th, 4th, 6th, and 20th sections) as the recommended repair sections.

The output unit 40 of the road repair support system 18 transmits information regarding the recommended repair sections (referred to as "recommended repair section information") to the user terminal 12, and causes the recommended repair section information to be displayed on the display of the user terminal 12. FIG. 8 shows an example of the recommended repair section information. The recommended repair section information in the figure is an image showing one or more recommended repair sections 50 superimposed on a map. In addition, the recommended repair section information in the figure adds a priority order for each of the one or more recommended repair sections 50.

The road repair support system 18 can help prioritize repairs of sections that contribute most to society and people by determining which sections of a road should be repaired based on the utility of each of the multiple sections. The road repair support system 18 can also help ensure efficient and effective road repairs by increasing the repair priority of sections that have a large increase in utility before and after road repair. The road repair support system 18 can also suggest sections that can be effectively repaired within the budget to the person in charge of maintaining and managing the road (e.g., a local government).

In the first embodiment, the simulation of section utility was explained by multiplying the road health, traffic volume, and section distance, but the calculation formula is not limited to this. For example, it may be a function (also called a "section utility function") that derives section utility using at least the road health, traffic volume, and section distance as variables. The section utility function may include variables other than the road health, traffic volume, and section distance.

In order to increase the probability of the repair priority calculated by the road repair support system 18, a pre-processing may be performed on each variable before inputting it into the section utility function. For example, as a pre-processing, a variable related to traffic volume may be processed first, as shown in FIG. 9. In the example of FIG. 9, a lower limit T1 and an upper limit T2 are set for the traffic volume (traffic volume after processing) as a parameter of the section utility, and the actual traffic volume is the traffic volume after processing between T1 and T2. As a result, the traffic volume (traffic volume after processing) as a parameter of the section utility becomes a value between T1 and T2. This type of processing has the effect of avoiding a situation in which repairs of roads with very low traffic volume are cut off, or, conversely, a situation in which the repair priority of a main road with very high traffic volume is always determined to be high and repairs of other residential roads do not progress.

In addition, when determining the repair priority of a road, factors other than the above variables (e.g., road health, traffic volume, section distance) may be taken into consideration. For example, the system may be implemented so that facility variables for increasing the repair priority when public facilities (hospitals, schools, etc.) are located close to the road, and adjustment variables for reflecting the importance of the road arbitrarily specified by the user (e.g., local government) in the repair priority can be input into the section utility function.

Second Example
The following description of this embodiment will focus on the differences from the previous embodiments, and will omit a description of the commonalities. The components of this modification that are the same as or correspond to the components of the previous embodiments will be described with the same reference numerals.

In the second embodiment, a technology is proposed for determining recommended repair sections taking into account future deterioration of road surface conditions. The configuration of the information processing system 10 in the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the information processing system 10 in the first embodiment (Figure 1).

Figure 10 is a block diagram showing the functional blocks of the road repair support system 18 of the second embodiment. In addition to the functional blocks of the first embodiment, the road repair support system 18 of the second embodiment further includes a road surface estimation data storage unit 29 and a road surface soundness estimation unit 42.

The road surface estimation data storage unit 29 stores a road surface soundness estimation model (which can also be called a road surface soundness estimation function) that implements an algorithm for determining the time series change in road surface soundness (which can also be called the degree of progression of road surface deterioration). The road surface soundness estimation model may be created by machine learning based on the track record of the change in road surface soundness in multiple sections and the track record of traffic volume in multiple sections. In addition, the road surface soundness estimation model may receive input of the current road surface soundness, traffic volume, and time point at which the road surface soundness is to be estimated (a future time point, for example, one year from now, two years from now, etc.), and output an estimate of the road surface soundness at that future time point.

The road surface soundness estimation unit 42 estimates the road surface soundness of each section at a future time point based on the current road surface soundness of each of the multiple sections acquired by the road surface soundness acquisition unit 30. Specifically, the road surface soundness estimation unit 42 estimates the road surface soundness of each section at a future time point using a road surface soundness estimation model stored in the road surface estimation data storage unit 29. For example, the road surface soundness estimation unit 42 may input the current road surface soundness of each section acquired by the road surface soundness acquisition unit 30 and the current traffic volume of each section acquired by the traffic volume acquisition unit 32 into the road surface soundness estimation model, and acquire the road surface soundness of each section at a future time point output by the model.

The utility derivation unit 34 derives the utility of the road at a future time for each of the multiple sections based on the road surface soundness at a future time for each of the multiple sections. The repair target determination unit 38 determines the sections that should undergo road repair at a future time based on the utility of the road at a future time for each of the multiple sections.

The operation of the road repair support system 18 of the second embodiment will now be described.
FIG. 11 shows an example of the utility of each section when no repairs are carried out. Road surface soundness (year T) indicates the current road surface soundness of each section, and road surface soundness (year T+1) indicates the road surface soundness of each section at a future point in time (one year from now). The road surface soundness (year T+1) is estimated by the road surface soundness estimation unit 42. Here, it is assumed that the road surface soundness will uniformly deteriorate to 0.8 times after one year, and the road surface soundness estimation unit 42 estimates the road surface soundness (year T+1) of each section based on that deterioration rate.

The section utility (year T) indicates the current utility of each section, and the section utility (year T+1) indicates the utility of each section at a future point in time (one year from now). Both are derived by the utility derivation unit 34. Note that the traffic volume is assumed to be constant between year T and year T+1.

Figure 12 shows an example of determining recommended repair sections in the situation of Figure 11. The repair target determination unit 38 determines one or more recommended repair sections for year T so that the utility for year T is maximized within the budget for year T (assumed to be 1.4 million yen). Specifically, as shown in Reference 1, the repair target determination unit 38 determines the third section and the 28th section as recommended repair sections for year T.

The repair target determination unit 38 also determines one or more recommended repair sections for the T+1 fiscal year so that the utility for the T+1 fiscal year is maximized within the budget for the T+1 fiscal year (assumed to be 1.4 million yen). Specifically, as shown in Reference 2, the repair target determination unit 38 determines the second section as the recommended repair section for the T+1 fiscal year.

The road repair support system 18 of the second embodiment can propose sections that should be repaired in the future to the person in charge of maintaining and managing the road (e.g., a local government), and can support the formulation of road repair plans and the securing of budgets from a long-term perspective. Note that, although the second embodiment estimates the road surface soundness one year from now, it is of course also possible to estimate the road surface soundness at other future times, such as three years from now, five years from now, etc., and determine the recommended repair sections at those future times.

The present invention has been described above based on the first and second embodiments. The contents described in these embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of the components and processing steps of the embodiments, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

A first modified example will be described. This modified example is applicable to both the first and second embodiments. As already described in the first embodiment, the repair history storage unit 28 stores data that associates the road area to be repaired with the cost unit, and the larger the road area to be repaired, the smaller the data associated with the cost unit. The cost estimation unit 36 may estimate the cost required for road repair of each section according to the road area of each section, based on the data stored in the repair history storage unit 28, by reducing the cost of road repair per unit area (cost unit) the larger the road area. In other words, the cost estimation unit 36 may estimate the cost of performing road repairs on multiple adjacent sections collectively to be lower than the cost of performing road repairs on the multiple sections individually.

The repair target determination unit 38 may determine the adjacent sections as sections for which road repair should be performed based on the degree of increase in utility before and after road repair in the adjacent sections and the cost of performing road repair across the adjacent sections all at once, as estimated by the cost estimation unit 36. That is, the repair target determination unit 38 may identify the adjacent sections as candidates for which road repair should be performed, and determine the adjacent sections as one recommended repair section based on the utility and repair cost of the adjacent sections.

Figure 13 shows an example of determining the recommended repair section in the situation of Figure 11 (shown in the second embodiment). Here, the repair target determination unit 38 identifies the adjacent second and third sections as candidate sections for which road repair should be carried out collectively. The cost estimation unit 36 refers to the data stored in the repair history storage unit 28 to obtain a cost unit (1,400 yen/m2) corresponding to 1,000 m2, which is the total road area of the second section and the third section, and estimates the repair cost of the second section (1,120,000 yen) and the repair cost of the third section (280,000 yen) based on the cost unit.

The repair target determination unit 38 determines one or more recommended repair sections for year T so that the utility for year T is maximized within the budget for year T (assuming it is 1.4 million yen), and specifically determines the second and third sections as the recommended repair sections for year T. The repair target determination unit 38 also determines one or more recommended repair sections for year T+1 so that the utility for year T+1 is maximized within the budget for year T+1 (assuming it is 1.4 million yen), and specifically determines the 28th and 31st sections as the recommended repair sections for year T+1.

According to the first modified example, multiple adjacent sections are identified as candidates for road repair collectively, and a cost unit discounted according to the road area is applied to these multiple sections. This increases the possibility of deriving repair targets that provide higher utility under the constraints of a limited budget. For example, in the example of Figure 12 of the second embodiment, the total section utility for years T and T+1 is 7750, but in the example of Figure 13 of the first modified example, the total section utility for years T and T+1 is 7798. In other words, even with the same budget amount, the overall utility can be increased.

A second modified example will be described. The utility derivation unit 34 may use the product of the road surface health, traffic volume, and section distance as the base value of the section utility, and adjust the section utility depending on whether facilities such as schools and hospitals exist near the road or whether repair requests have been received from nearby residents. For example, if facilities such as schools and hospitals exist near the road or if repair requests have been received from nearby residents, the section utility may be set to be greater than the base value. For example, a predetermined adjustment value may be added or integrated to the base value.

A third modified example will be described. The road surface soundness of each section of the road provided by the road surface property inspection system 14 may be pre-stored in the road repair support system 18. The road surface soundness acquisition unit 30 of the road repair support system 18 may read the road surface soundness of each section pre-stored in the system. Similarly, the traffic volume of each section of the road provided by the movement line analysis system 16 may be pre-stored in the road repair support system 18. The traffic volume acquisition unit 32 of the road repair support system 18 may read the traffic volume of each section pre-stored in the system.

Any combination of the above-mentioned examples and modifications is also useful as an embodiment of the present invention. A new embodiment resulting from the combination will have the combined effects of each of the examples and modifications. It will also be understood by those skilled in the art that the functions to be performed by each of the constituent elements recited in the claims can be realized by each of the constituent elements shown in the examples and modifications alone or in combination with each other.

18 Road repair support system, 30 Road surface soundness acquisition unit, 32 Traffic volume acquisition unit, 34 Utility derivation unit, 36 Cost estimation unit, 38 Repair target determination unit, 40 Output unit, 42 Road surface soundness estimation unit.

Claims (5)

A first acquisition unit that acquires a road surface soundness of each of a plurality of sections of a road;
A second acquisition unit that acquires a traffic volume for each of the plurality of sections;
a road surface soundness estimation unit that estimates a road surface soundness of each of the plurality of sections N years later (N is a natural number) based on the current road surface soundness of each of the plurality of sections acquired by the first acquisition unit and the current traffic volume of each of the plurality of sections acquired by the second acquisition unit, using a pre-stored mathematical model that estimates a transition of road surface soundness over time;
a utility deriving unit that derives a utility of the road for each of the plurality of sections N years from now based on the road surface soundness for each of the plurality of sections N years from now ;
A repair target determination unit that determines a section that should be repaired in N years based on the utility of the road in N years for each of the multiple sections ;
A road repair support system comprising: A cost estimation unit is further provided for estimating the cost required for road repair for each of the plurality of sections based on the actual cost required for road repair in the past,
The road repair support system according to claim 1 , characterized in that the repair target determination unit determines the section in which road repair should be performed N years from now so that the cost of road repair falls within a predetermined amount. the cost estimation unit estimates the cost of road repair for each section according to the road area of each section, based on the actual cost required for past road repairs, reducing the cost of road repair per unit area as the road area becomes larger;
The road repair support system described in claim 2, characterized in that the repair target determination unit can determine the adjacent sections as sections in which the road repair should be performed based on the degree of increase in utility before and after road repair in the adjacent sections and the cost estimated by the cost estimation unit of performing road repairs across the adjacent sections all at once . A first acquisition step of acquiring a road surface soundness of each of a plurality of sections of a road;
A second acquisition step of acquiring a traffic volume for each of the plurality of sections;
a step of estimating the road surface soundness of each of the plurality of sections N years later (N is a natural number) based on the current road surface soundness of each of the plurality of sections acquired in the first acquisition step and the current traffic volume of each of the plurality of sections acquired in the second acquisition step, using a pre-stored mathematical model that estimates a transition of road surface soundness over time;
A step of deriving a road utility N years from now for each of the plurality of sections based on the road surface soundness N years from now for each of the plurality of sections ;
determining a section in which road repair should be performed N years from now based on the utility of the road for each of the plurality of sections N years from now ;
A road repair support method characterized in that the above steps are executed by a computer. A first acquisition function for acquiring a road surface soundness of each of a plurality of sections of a road;
A second acquisition function for acquiring a traffic volume for each of the plurality of sections;
a function of estimating the road surface soundness of each of the plurality of sections N years later (N is a natural number) based on the current road surface soundness of each of the plurality of sections acquired by the first acquisition function and the current traffic volume of each of the plurality of sections acquired by the second acquisition function, using a pre-stored mathematical model that estimates a change in road surface soundness over time;
A function of deriving the utility of the road in N years for each of the plurality of sections based on the road surface soundness in N years for each of the plurality of sections ;
A function of determining a section in which road repair should be performed in N years based on the utility of each of the plurality of sections in N years ;
A computer program that enables a computer to realize the above.

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