Design of supervision and management system for ownerless manhole covers based on RFID

The manhole covers are one of the important urban infrastructures, but unfortunately they are stolen frequently. If the uncovered manholes can not be found timely and processed immediately, it may threaten to the city´s normal operation. Because the ownership of the manhole covers are unclear, it is much harder to manage these ownerless manhole owners (OLMCS). Based on the deep analyses of the current management status of the ownerless manhole covers, a supervision network and management system for the ownerless manhole covers in Xicheng district, Beijing was established taking advantages of sensors and 3G transmission technology in this paper. Several fixed RFID base stations were settled in some key supervision points where the manhole covers were lost easily and frequently, and each ownerless manhole cover was fixed a dormant RF card. The condition of the manhole covers was transferred to the supervision center in a timely manner by the GPRS wireless network. This formed an active and intelligent way of supervision and management of the ownerless manhole covers.