3.4.5.2 Advantages of the cross-asset analysis

As pointed out in section 1.2, many road organizations around the world still operate under a silo-like structure, in which the various physical and operational issues like pavement condition or mobility are managed separately with a limited consideration of the organization strategic objectives.

Adverse effects of the traditional practice include (Deix, Alten, & Weninger-Vycudil, 2012):

• Responsible for individual assets are more competitors than partners in achieving the asset management corporate objectives
• Uncoordinated treatments are from a society’s point of view inefficient and cause negative impacts on the environment
• All stakeholders are affected by unbalanced maintenance policies (e.g., different works from different programs carried out on the same section in consecutive years)

Cross-asset allocation has been conceived to overcome disadvantages such as the above. In contrast with traditional methods, a cross-asset approach provides means for analyzing concurrently the benefits from different investment alternatives for each asset / operational issue so that the strategic objectives are attained more effectively and efficiently.