Applications, as part of asset management and within this manual, concern Asset Management Tools (AMT) designed to help the road organization apply an Asset Management Plan (AMP), and communication activities developed for augmenting implementation of asset management.
AMT refers to specifically designed software to apply a rational and efficient approach to asset management. The first AMT chapter describes in more detail what such a tool is, what are its inputs, and the basic requirements. The next two chapters specify what to consider when making the case for an AMT, and what is its structure.
Asset management tool should perform a number of main functions which are explained for organizations at a basic, at a proficient and for organizations at an advanced maturity level. The AMT will be sustainable only if a road organization is supported by a complete business plan that sets out the investment and is able to fund the activities required, as explained in the fourth AMT chapter.
Relevant information associated with asset management should be actively communicated through engagement with internal staff and external stakeholders in setting requirements, making decisions, and reporting performance. A strategy for how to communicate this information is explained in chapters about internal and external delivery of AMP, as well as indication on how to do it for organizations at different maturity levels.
An asset management tool (AMT), as described in the following chapters, is a professional software that is used by a road organization to apply a rational approach to asset management. Therefore, it does not refer neither to an organization nor to a set of procedures. This kind of software supports the organization with significant computation for data processing and storage, maintenance and investment strategies or scenarios, and graphical display.
The following chapters explain the benefits of an organization having implemented such a software into daily practice. They focus as well on making the case on an AMT and provide information on the AMT structure. This information is provided for organizations at a basic maturity level, at a proficient level and at an advanced level. This section ends with explaining business plan for acquiring an asset management tool.
An AMT is professional software that is used by a road organization to apply a rational and efficient approach to asset management. An AMT always has two types of inputs:
Data that describe the transportation asset, its components (pavements, bridges, engineering structures, equipment, etc.), its nature and characteristics (drawings, design, construction reports, etc.), its condition (strengths, distresses, etc.) and other attributes that apply to it (traffic, climate, etc.)
The rehabilitation, maintenance, and operation scenarios that are considered by the road organization, including assumptions about external factors (budget, traffic, climate change, etc.) and their decided rules
An AMT helps road organizations perform various analyses, run several simulations, test a number of management scenarios, and finally decide which strategies are the most appropriate to meet their objectives (Figure 15.1). Basically, the AMT should meet two requirements:
The structure of the AMT (Figure 4.1.1) should reflect the procedures of the asset management approach described in the previous chapters. Because these procedures are progressively completed from one maturity level to the next one, the AMT should be modular software that can be enhanced by new modules or expanded functions as the road organization progresses from one maturity level to the next.
An AMT should never force or limit in any way the choices or decisions made by the road organization. The AMT should help staff to consider all realistic options and strategies in managing assets in the short, medium and long terms.
Applying an asset management approach, particularly for lifecycle planning (see section 2.4), requires significant computation for data processing and storage, maintenance and investment strategies or scenarios, and graphical display. Such a computation-intensive approach is likely to be more applicable to organizations at the Proficient and Advanced maturity levels, which consider several (technical, economic, social, and environmental) requirements and apply a variety of mathematical and statistical approaches and Bayesian analysis and enable a heuristic approach to asset management. Such methods involve the simulation of a large number of complex scenarios, which may require significant computing power. However, even at the basic maturity level, a significant number of operations is required. Furthermore, at all levels of maturity the ability to display the results of the scenarios in clear and understandable route diagrams, tables, and maps is a crucial aspect of asset management that enables it to demonstrate benefits such as efficiency.
As a consequence, modern transportation asset management analysis requires computers capable of sophisticated computational analysis. Asset management tools have been in use for at least two decades that support this need. They are not only able to deal with a huge amount of data and analysis scenarios, but can also present the results in visual formats such as GIS.
Overall structure
An asset management tool supports the implementation of the asset management framework by performing the following main functions:
Each of these functions is developed to a greater or lesser extent depending on the maturity level of the organization implementing the asset management procedures, as described below.
Note that although data collection and processing is an important and difficult phase in road asset management, it is often considered as a separate task, either performed with specific devices by contractors (road condition indicators) or resulting from a careful review of an organization’s archives (road structure, maintenance works…). This is discussed in more detail in section 2.1 of this guide.
The main functions of an AMT for organizations at a basic maturity level are as follows:
Calculation of KPIs at a given time, which corresponds to the time when the data were collected (year n). At the basic maturity level, the technical KPIs are mainly structural and surface ratings.
Development of maintenance programs (type, priority, and ultimately a list of actions) and allocation of resources based on predefined strategies. Because no deterioration models are involved at this level, medium- and long-term performances and programs cannot be assessed. Accordingly, the outcome consists of an annual (year n+1), biannual (years n+1 and n+2), or at most triennial (years n+1, n+2, and n+3) program. This function is realized in three steps: identification, prioritization, and allocation of maintenance needs (to year 1, 2, or 3). The basic assumption made in this module is that the maintenance and rehabilitation needs defined on the basis of data collected at year n will remain adequate even if they are applied in years n+2 or n+3, which often is not fully satisfying.
According to the approach developed in this guide, the AMT for organizations at a proficient maturity level should include greater functionality than that for organizations at the basic level. The greater functionality is as follows:
Deterioration models: Deterioration models are calculated and applied. These models mainly include distress evolution models and some physical characteristics evolution models (deflection, texture, skid resistance, etc.). With these models, the AMT can be used to simulate different scenarios in the medium and long terms. The set of condition indicator evolution models includes two types of models:
Natural evolution models (NEMs): These models quantify the variation of condition indicator values over time due to climate and traffic when no intervention is applied.
Intervention effect models (IEMs): The maintenance and rehabilitation interventions obviously have some effects on the condition indicators, which reflect the effects the interventions have on the asset. These effects are specified in the intervention effect models.Figure 4.1.3.2 illustrates such models.
Performance assessment: The performance module is expanded to take into account more detailed data and deterioration models and calculate costs and benefits using socioeconomic and environmental KPIs. Including GRC and DRC in the calculation of asset values is one of the supplementary performance indicators. (Refer to section 3.3 of this guide.)
Note that a performance modeling module involves one or two sub-functions (Figure 4.1.3.3):
Minimally, application of condition indicator evolution models (NEM, IEM) to actual data in order to simulate the aging process of the network. This sub-function is necessary to perform medium- and long-term simulations.
Optionally, identification of these condition indicator evolution models from the data collected on the network during previous surveys and stored in the road database. Note that these models can be derived from external studies too, but not as well.
Figure 4.1.3.3 Structure of an AMT for organizations at a proeficient maturity level
Multi-annual maintenance programming: Given the condition of the network in a certain year, the asset management strategies, and the annual budget (which may vary over time), the module should be able to simulate different scenarios over the medium and long terms.
Cost-benefit analysis (CBA): Basically, CBA balances the total costs of maintenance to prevent asset deterioration (treatment costs, road organization costs, extra costs for work areas, costs of negative environmental impacts in the short term, etc.) and the total benefits produced by maintenance (medium- and long-term positive impacts on the economy, society, and the environment) in the same period. This balance has meaning only when calculated based on the lifecycle of the asset components. The lifecycle is the period between two major asset component reconstructions. Performing CBA implies that the previous AMT structure needs to be enlarged to take into account the various impacts of asset management. Different modules should be added to the structure, as shown in Figure 4.1.3.3.
Assessment of all costs caused by intervention on the asset, such as the direct works costs, the indirect work costs, the costs of traffic management during the interventions (detours, signs, etc.), the costs to the users during the intervention (extra delays and fuel consumption caused by congestion), etc. Specific models may be required to evaluate these costs, for instance the costs of congestion during the intervention, which depend on the traffic signature, or the costs of the reduction in flow capacity.
Assessment of all benefits resulting from intervention, such as reduced travel times, vehicle operating costs, traffic risk, etc. Again, specific models must be added to the structure illustrated in Figure 4.1.3.3 to perform these assessments.
Finally, the complete structure is shown in Figure 4.1.3.4.
Figure 4.1.3.4 Complete structure of CBA
The result of the CBA is affected by a number of issues. There may be uncertainties, such as traffic demand and growth, that affect asset performance, particularly as a result of the climatic region. Accordingly, CBA cannot deliver exact and definitive answers. A risk analysis must therefore be conducted to quantify the reliability of these conclusions.
Risk analysis: Risk analysis does not need a specific or additional module. It is conducted by iterating the simulation through a number of scenarios according to the structure illustrated in Figure 4.1.3.3 with each scenario assigned a specific probability or distribution of probability (of traffic growth, budget reduction, occurrence of an environmental event, modification of regulations or laws, etc.). The realism of the risk considered in the analysis is decided by an experienced user. The results of the different runs are weighted by the probability of the simulated scenario occurring. The strategies that are finally fixed are those that realize the accepted risk for the road organization.
Financial plan: As with risk analysis, this function does not require a specific module. It is performed by well-organized and coordinated applications of the structure illustrated in Figure 4.1.3.3. Two sets of applications are required to build a rational and consistent financial plan:
Simulation of past strategies, in which the AMT is used to find the strategy that is consistent with the recent evolution of the network condition, given the external factors affecting the network (traffic variation, climate events, geologic events, etc.) and the budget.
Selection of future budget and strategies and, consequently, simulation of realistic scenarios, which will ultimately provide information on the best schema of budget allocation.
An AMT for organizations at this maturity level requires at least three additional functions:
Investment strategies: Beyond the maintenance policy, the most significant problem that any road organization deals with includes evaluating how much of the budget should be invested in the road to secure its value and services. Using the system illustrated in Figure 4.1.3.4 may be sufficient to answer this question. No additional software module is required to perform this function.
Asset management plan: Once the CBA and risk analysis are performed with the help of the system illustrated in Figure 4.1.3.4 the asset management plan can be finalized. No additional software module is required to perform this function.
Performance monitoring: Once the annual maintenance program has been carried out on the whole asset, the KPIs can be recalculated either from collecting new on-site data for the whole or a part of the network or from applying condition indicator evolution models. The Performance Modelling module is available to perform this updating of the overall assessment of the asset. No additional software module is required to perform this function.
Requirements for an AMT are summarized in table 4.1.3
Note that the same AMT should be applicable for organizations at the basic to the advanced maturity level, which means that it should potentially meet all the requirements. However, the operating system needs only to meet the requirements applicable to the maturity level of the asset management process at a given time.
Buying an AMT may be expensive. Without up-to-date data or trained users, the AMT will be of no help for the road organization. Therefore, the implementation of an AMT in a road organization should be supported by a complete business plan that sets out the investment required and the benefits. Importantly, the organization must also be able to fund a data collection program over the lifecycle of the system. Without this, the AMT will not be sustainable.
The system should consist of a road database plus a set of data interpretation modules, as described above. The cost of initial licenses, generally a lump sum, must be funded. Sometimes the database display functions are below the level specified by the road organization. In that case, the road organization must complete the database with GIS, and the cost of the license(s) must be added to the lump sum. Moreover, in most cases the proposed software includes a maintenance option, which implies a recurrent expense that has to be funded as well.
The system is run using inventory and condition data. These data must be sufficient, reliable, and up to date. A significant amount of work is required to initialize the process (mainly gathering inventory data) and collect condition data recurrently (possibly annually) on site. For this periodic collection, different schemas exist. For instance, some road organizations collect data on the whole network every “n” years, while others collect data on a part (1/N) of their network every year. Some road organizations employ their own staff to collect data, while some others contract the data surveys to specialized companies. In all cases, the implementation of an AMT requires an initial investment in the collection of inventory and condition data, plus a recurrent budget for collecting updated data. This investment must be considered in the business plan.
The most important effort when installing an AMT involves the configuration of the analysis modules. From this point of view, each AMT is different. The context (climate, traffic, road construction, road maintenance) varies from one road organization to the next. Thus, the professional expertise, experience, and even culture are different from one country to the next. The configuration of the AMT involves collecting the local expertise, experience, and culture to formalize these factors and incorporate them into the software. This may require a significant amount of time, but the success of the installation and the later application of the system strongly depend on the quality of this configuration. The configuration phase can gradually turn into a training phase for the future users of the system. Subsequently and periodically, some additional training can be proposed to upgrade the AMT users’ skills.
Therefore, the decision to implement an AMT must always be supported by the production of a business plan that will identify the sources of the initial and recurrent funding. Table 4.1.4 illustrates the relative weight of the expenses.
- Successful Practices in GIS-Based Asset Management, NCHRP Report Issue Number: 800, Publisher: Transportation Research Board ISSN: 0077-5614, http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/172204.aspx;
- AASHTO Transportation Asset Management Guide—A Focus on Implementation, American Association and Transportation Official, June 2013, http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/pubs/hif13047.pdf
The following case studies are presented in this chapter:
Case study 1: Successful implementation of a road assets management tool for the federal roads of United Arab Emirates
Case study 2: Asset management in Jiangsu province, China
AHMEDABDALLA AL HAMMADI, Ministry of Infrastructure Development, United Arab Emirates, Northern Emirates
In 2013 the Roads Department of the Ministry of Public Works of UAE (currently Ministry of Infrastructure Development, MoID), started the corresponding tasks for the project “Preparation and Operation of Pavement and Asset Management System”, whose object was the implementation of a methodology along with a management system, for the maintenance of the network of roads to its charge. The initial project was carried out from 2012 to 2016, and currently the second phase (2017 – 2019) is under development by the same company (RAUROS), due to the success obtained during the first one.
The projects include different tasks within the road asset management field, related to: condition survey data collection using high performance equipment, pavement condition analysis, maintenance plan analysis, road asset management system (RAMS) implementation and customization, bridges and slopes inventory, app development for routine works control, analysis of new maintenance solutions adapted to UAE road network characteristics and a full time consultancy service in UAE Ministry of Infrastructure Development facilities.
Below is described the work performed during these contracts, having received the first contract the 2015 Global Road Achievement Award in Asset Preservation & Maintenance Management, awarded by International Road Federation during Congress celebrated in Istanbul (Turkey) held in 2015.
The successful of this work is based on the implementation of a preventive system in UAE Ministry of Infrastructure Development procedures adapting it to UAE road network characteristics, the full time consultancy service, and the implementation of a modern, powerful and useful system that allows technicians and manager to make easier and faster decisions, based on technical and economic parameters for achieving an optimum maintenance of the road network.
The network of roads of the Ministry includes freeways, highways and conventional roads, being most of them spread over the north of the country, with an approximate length of 1,300 kilometers of carriageway, equivalent to 2800 kilometers of lane.
In order to schedule a correct maintenance planning, it is crucial to know the road assets that form part of the network of roads. Therefore, the first tasks have consisted of taking a full inventory.
For this purpose, specialized designed equipment was used. Such equipment can take images and other measurements while driving at to more than 70 km/h.
All the collected information allows to know the location and typology of the road assets that need maintenance: signage, highlights, guardrails… This inventory allows, to the conservation staff, to drive a correct control of the routine maintenance and schedule all type of inspections.
It is a fact that pavements constitute 80% of the investment required for the maintenance of the network. Therefore, it is necessary to know their condition. For this reason, different tests are performed by using high performance equipment.
Functional and structural characteristics were evaluated. The functional characteristics are tied to the diving surface of the pavements. Four functional parameters are annually measured in the roads of UAE:
Such measurements are obtained through the measure of the transversal profile, by using specific equipment that has several laser devices lined-up. From the transversal profile, the depth of each rut can be calculated.
Besides, there exist some structural characteristics.
The knowledge of the traffic of each one of the roads and its evolution is another key factor. For this purpose, several counting stations to determine the traffic density are being installed in strategic spots within the network. A total of 27 fixed stations are being installed, and 70 measurements of temporary traffic density are being taken. The counting stations count the number of vehicles and classify the data regarding the vehicle typology; they also take measure of its speed. Another essential parameter that needs to be determined is the weight of the vehicles. For this purpose, 5 stations of dynamic weighing (Weight in Motion) are being installed. These devices take measures of the load per axle, information which is absolutely necessary for adjusting the calculations when dimensioning reinforcements in the pavements.
Additionally, a highly detailed inventory of all the bridges, slopes, culverts and camel crossings is being performed. At the same time, basic inspections of each asset are being made. The inventory comprises the geographic location of the structure and the identification of each forming element (typology and material). The geometrical dimensions of each bridge is being also determined. The routine inspection consists of a primary visual identification of possible damages or pathologies that can cause failures in the structure, from the functionality or durability point of view.
Lastly, but no less important, some testing/coring are being made within the whole road in order to perfectly know the cross section of each road, so proper pavement analysis can be made, specially where new materials have been used for rehabilitation purposes.
Once data taking is concluded, in order to manage and take benefit of the huge amount of information collected, it is entirely essential to rely on a proper asset management system.
For this purpose, the choice made by the MoID was ICARO, a comprehensive Road Asset Management System (RAMS) used internationally and which first version was developed more than 15 years ago, made out of the collaborative work of a highly qualified team formed by computing and civil engineers, permanently focused on the needs of technicians and managers of public administrations and highways operating companies of all over the world.
The implantation of ICARO has allowed the MoID to take advantage – by using a single and powerful tool – of all the necessary data to carry out the full management of the road heritage. Such essential information has been provided by means of photographic, cartographic and numerical way, all under total coordination.
Technicians of certain areas within the General Direction of Roads can now study the data aforementioned in a simple way. Additionally, the data can contribute to provide information about road safety (crashes, risk index, etc..), as well as to control the routine maintenance tasks. Such extra information is extremely valuable for any administration of a network of roads.
To carry out a preventive management is necessary to have a RAMS capable of storing and exploiting a large number of aspects:
In addition to the RAMS, it has been developed an app for the use of mobile devices which allows for georeferential data collection on-site to be later synchronized with the central system. The application has been designed to automatically place itself according to the position the GPS signal receives and to display the inventory asset existing in the system at that kilometric point. It automatically selects the corresponding road and stretch. The application allows reviewing the existent assets, to register the characteristics of them using their own files or to add new inventory assets.
In summary, the MoID can rely on an expert management system that allows:
Definitely, to increase the service standard offered to the users and to decrease its costs.
Knowing the possibilities of investment in the maintenance, determining the quality degree that can be achieved with such investments and defining suitable quality thresholds, the best preventive maintenance system can be attained. For this purpose, it is always necessary to reach the balance between the aim to fulfill and the investment to make. ÍCARO system provides the Ministry with a technical support that clearly justify when, where and how much it is necessary to invest in the maintenance.
This software has been installed in the Ministry offices, and not only the staff located in the Ministry main offices, but also the personnel that works in field, has full access to the system through the app.
All these tasks are being managed by a consultant company, and directed by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development staff,
It is known that one of the indicators of the level of development of a region is, without doubt, the state of its network of roads and roads in the case of a city.
Developed countries apply this preventive management model from the start-up.
At the same time, the regions that are still developing are incorporated into this model as soon as their economic capacity allows them to deal with non-basic aspects.
The preventive management of a network can only be carried out once a certain level of quality has been reached. Before reaching that level, the systems can only help to prioritize the actions. Later, the real preventive management will begin.
The main objective of this management method is to achieve a high degree of commitment to citizens, ensuring that investments will serve to achieve the best maintenance. In order to fulfill it, it is necessary to:
All this, for reaching a balance between the objective to be met and the investment to be made.
ICARO RAMS implemented and described in this case study is simple and powerful, developed by RAUROS for more than 15 years, and implemented in multiple administrations around the world, both private and public.
YULI PAN & JUNZHE WANG, National Engineering Research Center of Road Maintenance Technologies, PR China
This case study describes the annual based asset management carried out by Jiangsu Provincial Highway Administration Bureau for their trunk highways since 2008, as plotted in Figure 4.1.6.3, its scale increases 1.7 times within a period of 10 years.
Figure 4.1.6.3: Scale of the Asset Management of Jiangsu Province
The main purpose of the annual application of asset management in Jiangsu province is to enhance the highway network management skills by using modern asset management equipment and systems, including high-speed highway condition monitoring vehicles, database and decision-making systems (L, Gao and X, Zhang. 2017).
Through the implementation of this asset management program, the Highway Administration Bureau is benefited in several ways:
The annual based asset management is conducted stage by stage as follows：data collection → distress auto-recognition → maintenance analysis → planning, scheduling and presentation.
Data Collection
Figure 4.1.6.4 is one of the three high-speed highway condition monitoring vehicles (CiCS: China's highway information Collection System) employed in Jiangsu's trunk highway investigations. The CiCS vehicle is able to collect highway conditions including cracking, pot hole, longitudinal profiles, transverse profiles, pavement texture, grade, curvature, and slope, front images, and GPS etc. information all together with traffic stream speeds.
Figure 4.1.6.4: CiCS Data Collection
Distress Auto-recognition
In this stage, highway conditions including pavement distress, pot hole, road signs are automatically recognized by a AI based software CiAS (China's Highway information Auto-recognition System) as seen in Figure 4.1.6.5.
With the obtained highway condition data, highway condition evaluations can be conducted according to the Highway Performance Assessment Standard (MOT PRC, 2007), and further maintenance analysis can be performed by using the CRMS system (China's Road asset Management System), including performance prediction, road user cost estimation, maintenance needs analysis, budget assignment, project optimization, planning and scheduling as shown in Figure 4.1.6.6.
Planning, Scheduling and Presentation
The CRMS provides two sorts of platforms as shown in Figure 4.1.6.7 (PC Platform) and Figure 4.1.6.8 (Mobile phone platform). The two platforms enable the Highway Bureaus to conduct and present their highway network managing plans and maintenance schedules and mapping the results on the platforms, that automatically likes the visual information (maps, pavement images, front view images) with all other information such as inventory, maintenance history, current conditions, future performance and analysis results.
The annual based asset management conducted in Jiangsu Province has significantly changed the traditional manner of highway asset management. With the modern technologies, the Jiangsu Provincial Highway Bureau (and its district level Highway Bureaus) is able to manage their highway asset with a more cost-effective way, through the procedure of data collection, distress auto-recognition, whole life cycle cost-based maintenance analysis, and planning and scheduling.
Ministry of Transport, PRC.2017. Annual report of national highway maintenance statistics. Beijing.
L, Gao and X, Zhang. 2017. Construction of scientific decision-making system for trunk highway in Jiangsu Province. Maintenance Engineering (145) PP. 44-48.
Ministry of Transport, PRC. 2007. Highway Performance Assessment Standards. China Communications Press. Beijing.
As an organization implements an asset management program, it should develop a communication plan. Augmenting the implementation of asset management with a communication plan can be helpful. Because of the large number of staff and functions that need to be coordinated, communications is essential internally. It is important for staff to understand what is taking place and their roles. Communication with external stakeholders and customers is equally important to convey what is being done, why it is being done, what is planned, and what are the key expectations with regard to level of service, performance targets, and funding scenarios.
Relevant information associated with asset management should be actively communicated through engagement with internal staff and external stakeholders in setting requirements, making decisions, and reporting performance. It is important to discuss and develop a strategy for how this information is communicated, e.g. with pre-prepared material such as videos or annual reports (FHWA, 2017; Swedish Transport Administration, 2016).
Asset management requires high-level and abstract attributes such as long-term vision and strategic goals. It involves detailed information such as the fields of data used for asset inventory and condition databases. To carry out the AMP, road organization employees (Iowa DOT, 2014, Transport asset management) and vendors must understand not only the long-term vision but also the detailed technical requirements of providing the data, conducting the asset assessments, programming the correct projects, and conducting the proper maintenance to achieve the long-term vision. A communication plan and effort can serve an important coordination function. This effort can provide motivation, note accomplishments, maintain momentum, and enhance the breadth, depth, and effectiveness of implementation in the organization.
The personal involvement of the leader can be an important component of the communication effort. Effective communication includes both formal and informal communication, with the informal communication often being the most effective since information is transferred and conveyed in a more freely and quicker way. When employees see the personal engagement of the leader in the asset management implementation effort, it reinforces the importance of and communicates the commitment of the leadership to asset management. It is essential that staff understand that they have a role and what their respective responsibilities are with regard to moving asset management efforts forward.
An external communication plan helps keep the external stakeholders informed, involved (Iowa DOT, 2014, Thinking differently), and supportive of the agency’s asset management effort. Communicating the progress made and the next steps being pursued in the implementation of asset management also shows accountability and adds credibility to the agency’s effort. It is important to have performance measures and targets that are understood.
Engaging with stakeholders to understand their needs and expectations provides the information needed to determine and review the service provided by road infrastructure assets and hence the asset management activities. The road network is often of significant interest to the public and the media. This interest is likely to continue with robust public expectations for how the network should function.
The levels of service that underpin the AMP must be based upon a good understanding of stakeholder and customer priorities and expectations (Austroads, 2009), and they are essential to the success of the AMP. The AMP is an effective mechanism to communicate levels of standards, performance targets, funding scenarios, and outcomes and to manage customer expectations.
An AMP is an important tool in addressing the trend towards transparency, which results in the increased availability of a wide range of information in the public domain. Organizations should provide clarity and transparency in how they make decisions in the identification, assessment, programming, and delivery of asset management activities, including maintenance works, and should clearly explain how such decisions were affected by public input or how these decisions will impact the public.
Providing good quality information to stakeholders on what can be expected from the asset management approach is an important aspect of service to the public. A clear and effective approach to communications within the asset management framework can be an excellent means of providing information and responding to challenges related to programs of maintenance works and value for money (FHWA, 2015). Effective communications also assist with the often high volume of public requests, reports from multiple sources, and media interest in road maintenance. The potholes review undertaken by the Department for Transport in England (HMEP, 2012) and Scotland’s National Road Maintenance Review (Transport Scotland, n.d.) recognize the importance of communications and make recommendations in this regard.
For organizations just initiating an asset management framework, it is common to operate in silos. Efforts need to be in place to establish clear agency goals as well as an asset management group that focuses on how to implement asset management in the organization.
Organizations that are more mature in implementing asset management address one of the key challenges: the introduction of a holistic approach to the delivery of services that removes organizational silos and promotes integration of processes, information, and systems. Introducing this holistic approach leads to a more efficient way of working by removing duplicate and redundant processes and by service-wide decision-making, but it also requires changes to the working culture to engender greater cooperation and flexibility among staff.
To ensure the successful adoption of asset management, the asset management group needs to be proactive in informing other staff and also involve others in the process. The asset management group is established to produce, manage, or steer the development of the AMP and to steer or manage implementation.
The leader of the group conveys the goals and the importance of implementing an asset management framework in the organization. Senior management needs to be involved at key points, needs to fully support the process, and needs to be keen to see the benefits that will be realized.
A program of training and education in good asset management practices needs to be established. This includes allowing staff to be available for training and education in asset and infrastructure management as part of their professional development, and seminars to inform a wider range of participants, including interested external parties, about asset management and about the organization’s progress and intentions.
It is intended that the AMP, as it develops, will be a key reference document to all of those involved in management of service delivery on the road network. The AMP needs to be available internally and externally.
Asset management enables the following (as illustrated conceptually in Figure 4.2.3):
FHWA. 2017. Asset Management. Videos. Available from: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/video/index.cfm [7 February 2017].
The Swedish Transport Administration, 2016.Annual Report 2015. Available from: https://trafikverket.ineko.se/Files/en-US/17478/Ineko.Product.RelatedFiles/2016_054_trafikverkets_arsredovisning_2016_engelsk.pdf [7 February 2017].
Iowa DOT. 2014. Transport asset management – how does it impact employees? Available from: http://www.transportationmatters.iowadot.gov/2014/11/iowa-dot-transportation-asset-management-how-does-it-impact-employees.html [7 February 2017].
Iowa DOT. 2014. Thinking differently - transportation asset management ramps up at Iowa DOT. Available from: http://www.transportationmatters.iowadot.gov/2014/11/thinking-differently-transportation-asset-management-ramps-up-at-iowa-dot.html [7 February 2017].
Austroads. 2009. Guide to Asset Management Part 2: Community and Stakeholder Requirements.
FHWA. 2015. Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decision-Making. Available from: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/public_involvement/publications/techniques/chapter00.cfm [25 February 2017].
HMEP Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme. 2012. Prevention and a better cure. Potholes review. UK: Department of Transport, 72 p. Available from: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3995/pothole-review.pdf [7 February 2017].
Transport Scotland. National Roads Maintenance Review.UK: Transport Scotland. Available from: www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road/maintenance/national-roads-maintenance-review [7 February 2017].
THOMAS LINDER, Bavarian State Ministry for Housing, Building and Transport, Germany
Communication is one of the key elements to achieve an appropriate funding for road maintenance. But communication in this context is not only communication between road engineers. It is essential that a proper communication is carried out towards the decision makers, finally it will be the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Finance, the Government and the Parliament or members thereof.
The goal is to communicate in a way that is easily understood by non-professionals in the field of road engineering.
The benefit will be a better understanding of matters in the context of road maintenance management or more comprehensive in terms of road asset management.
In a 7-step-process it is shown, how better communication on road asset management can result in a better funding of road maintenance:
The key is to explain in simple words what you are doing. Simplify the consequences of different strategies. Involve your boss up to the Minister as the top decision maker.
LINDER, T.: How can we communicate better on road asset management. Presentation during the PPRS2018 (Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit) conference, Nice, France, March 2018.
Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Transport: Maintenance management for Bavarian Roads, Munich, Germany, August 2011 http://www.bauministerium.bayern.de/assets/stmi/vum/strasse/bauunderhalt/42_maintenance_management_201108.pdf