Artificial Intelligence: a valuable partner for predictive maintenance and infrastructure sustainability

PRESS NOTE - Arzignano (VI) - December 14, 2023

La The European Commission, Council and Parliament recently approved the AI Act, the legislation designed for the purpose of regulating artificial intelligence. This is the first legislation in the world of its kind and with this scope, however, details of the regulation still have to be decided.. After political agreement has been reached, technical teams are working to produce the final text that will be voted on by European organs. It is expected that, if everything goes according to the timeline, the legislation could come into effect in about two years. A law that ensures that rights and freedoms are at the heart of the development of this revolutionary technology, ensuring a balance between innovation and protection.

AI is also a key ally to the environmental sustainability of a project. This was also stressed by ANCE (the Italian Association of Building Constructors) in the document presented to the Italian Senate on November 29, where ANCE points out that, "Regarding sustainability, an area where AI can bring benefits is the assessment of the environmental impact of a project. By integrating multiple quantities and types of data related to the natural resources and environmental characteristics of a territory (soil, water, air quality, biodiversity heritage..), algorithms are able to develop models not only to minimize impacts in the various phases of the life cycle of the work, but above all to optimize design aspects and thus improve the environmental profile of the intervention."

Franchetti SpA positively acknowledges the new standard. The publicly traded company, a pioneer in the field of management, diagnostics and predictive maintenance of infrastructure, bridges and viaducts in particular, uses AI in its proprietary software including Argan© and Pathwork©. Argan© collects and analyzes data on the state of health of a work and makes the diagnosis that allows the necessary interventions to be planned, with obvious advantages in terms of safety, safeguarding of existing assets and proper management of economic resources.

Pathwork©, starting from the information describing the characteristics of each construction site and the constraints to be respected, is able to produce, in the most organic form, the best allocation, in space and time, of the construction sites themselves.

The latest, Sidecheck, is a software intended for auditing asset inspection processes. Based on embedding algorithms and neural networks, it is a key support to make the management process as objective as possible in time, space and among the different actors involved.

The software and digital solutions developed in house by Franchetti SpA's team are able to minimize the impacts of the interventions to be planned by clients, optimizing not only the environmental sustainability of the individual intervention but acting in the economic-financial sustainability of the entire infrastructure network, enhancing the existing built environment and minimizing the exploitation of land and resources.

As the ANCE Survey reports, "The potential of infrastructure digitization involves several areas: management efficiency, better responsiveness to user needs, structural and operational safety, and sustainability." Franchetti SpA presides over these areas with experience, track record and recognition, being able to rely on a proprietary database that includes information on more than 40 thousand equivalent bridges. A key asset for planning the maintenance of existing infrastructure and creating new, more durable and sustainable ones.