Theoretical Framework for Transportation Infrastructure Asset Management Based on Review of Best Practices

Abstract

The transportation agencies have historically focused on major building and expansion of roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure. However, the emphasis has drastically shifted from development of new infrastructure to intelligently maintaining the existing one. In recent years, budget tightening and increasing demands had also impacted the allocation of funds in transportation infrastructure. This situation has lead to emphasize the development of asset management systems. At its core, asset management is a business process that often changes the way of thinking in an organization and drives the decisions based on information. A strong asset management system provides a solid foundation that optimizes the performance and cost effectiveness of transportation facilities’ operations and maintenance. Keeping in mind, this paper provides an overview of transportation infrastructure asset management. It provides a review of the best practices adopted by different transportation infrastructure agencies internationally & United States. The review shows that the front runners in the asset management system internationally are Australia while Michigan takes the lead in US. Finally, based on the review of best practices, a theoretical framework for transportation infrastructure asset management has been proposed. The framework is focused on six important aspects of an asset management system i.e. asset management organization and concept, planning, contractual arrangement and mechanisms, monitoring and performance measurement, information systems and decision making.