Asset Management
The goal of an asset management program is to minimize the life-cycle costs for managing and maintaining transportation assets, including roads, bridges, tunnels, rails, and roadside features. This approach focuses on business and engineering practices for resource allocation and utilization, with the objective of better decision making based upon quality information and well-defined objectives.
The performance measures in the following case studies are integral components of infrastructure asset management. Measures are linked to budget considerations where goals and strategic plans are developed to ensure acceptable quality and efficiency. The implementation of an effective and successful transportation asset management program relies on the use of performance measures to enable data-driven investment decisions.
FDOT’s Pavement Condition Criteria
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) conducts an annual pavement condition survey to monitor three specific distress criteria: 1) ride quality, 2) rutting, and 3) cracking. These criteria are used to develop a 10-point scale known as the Pavement Condition Rating (PCR). The target is for 80 percent of all lanes on the state highway systems to have a PCR rating of “Good” or “Excellent,” signifying pavement with a 6.5 or higher score. FDOT has been successful in reaching the objective and surpassing it in fiscal year 2006. (Figure 1.)
Maryland’s Ride Quality Performance Measurement
Maryland has six key performance measures related to the efficiency of existing infrastructure, including pavement conditions. The State Highway Administration (SHA) is required to survey highways under its administration for “Acceptable Ride Quality.” (Figure 2.) The agency has a long-term performance goal and reports on the annual condition of state highways, how their performance compares with the previous year and the progress made towards the long-term target.
Figure 1. Percent of Pavement on Florida’s Highway System Meeting Department Standards
Figure 2. Percentage of Maryland-Maintained Roads with Acceptable Ride Quality
Ride Quality Facilitates Mobility, Effi ciency, and a Safe Movement of People and Goods Within Maryland
MnDOT’s Pavement Preservation Program
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has made preserving pavement and bridges its highest priority for investment, and considers maintaining good pavement condition key to fulfilling MnDOT’s goal to “safeguard what exists.” MnDOT uses two measures to track pavement condition annually for all trunk highway miles: 1) the smoothness of the ride provided to travelers, and 2) the integrity of the pavement structure (Remaining Service Life). Each measure captures a different aspect of the pavement’s health. They are used to rank pavement sections, to predict future maintenance and rehabilitation needs, and to select the most cost-effective treatments for each section.
Figure 3 shows that through 2002 Minnesota regularly exceeded desired targets for a “Good” quality smooth ride. While the pavement share rated “Good” began falling in 2001 due to heavy investment in expansion, it is projected to meet the 70 percent target again in 2007. The share with a “Poor” ride increased slightly above the 2 percent target in 2003 through 2006 and is expected to improve to 1.6 percent in 2007.
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Department of
Transportation. Night paving operations on I-494
in St. Paul reduces delays for commuters.
Figure 3. Customer Ride Quality on Minnesota’s State Highways, Pavement Condition, Principal Arterials
MoDOT’s Smooth Roads Initiative Program
Missouri tracks the condition of their existing major and minor roads as well as bridges on major and minor roads. This is an important measure because Missourians have indicated in customer surveys that the condition of the system should be of the highest priority. In response, Missouri’s Smooth Roads Initiative (SRI) program recognized the relationship between pavement performance, quality and customer satisfaction. The SRI focused important resources to 2,200 miles of Missouri’s most heavily traveled highways in order to bring them to “Good” condition. (Figure 4.)
Figure 4. Percent of Missouri Major Highways That Are in Good Condition
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WSDOT’s Lowest Life Cycle Cost Management Approach to Pavement
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) annually assesses pavement conditions as part of the department’s asset management program. WSDOT uses a combination of pavement ratings to determine when pavement is due for rehabilitation, based on Lowest Life Cycle Cost (LLCC) management. Pavement performance measures used to make specific investment decisions include structural condition (PSC), rutting condition and roughness (International Roughness Index [IRI]). WSDOT also measures the relationship between vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and pavement condition. WSDOT’s combined pavement rating for 2005 shows that 93.5 percent of all pavement is in “Good” condition. (Figure 5.)
Figure 5. Washington State Highways Pavement Condition Trends, 1973–2005
Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation. A typical travel day in Seattle.
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Department of Transportation.Traffi c congestion on eastbound I-94 near St. Paul increases travel time for commuters.
