Asset Management Plan Research Articles

Sustainable Development for River Catchments

This paper deals with some of the strategic issues arising from the consideration of the sustainable development of river catchments. Principles and best practice are discussed, both in general terms and as challenges to professionals involved with the coordinated planning and management of river catchments. Points are illustrated with reference to experience in the highly developed River Thames catchment, where the many demands made on the water environment require complex multifunctional decision-making. Sustainability offers a new paradigm and common language to support decision-making for sustainable development. The appropriate institutional and legislative framework will be supported by tools such as environmental appraisal, strategic environmental assessment and economic instruments. Within this context, the implicit partnership between asset management planning, catchment management planning and land-use planning has the potential to deliver sustainable development for the water environment, through a process which may be called ‘total’ catchment planning. It is suggested that source control will play a major role in the search for ‘prevention rather than cure’ as a basic principle of sustainability.

Use of Soil Maps to Predict the Incidence of Corrosion and the Need for Iron Mains Renewal

ABSTRACTThe requirement for revised asset management plans from water‐supply companies and the need to prioritize the renewal of buried water‐supply pipework has stimulated an interest in the spatial distribution of corrosion risk and intensity. This paper reports how the relationships between soil corrosion and the spatial distribution of soil types, as displayed on soil maps, can be combined to predict the likely incidence of aggressive soils and thereby identify those water mains which are most likely to need early replacement. The concept is illustrated by a project supported by Portsmouth Water plc.

Asset Management Planning: Theory and Practice

ABSTRACTIn 1988, water undertakers in England and Wales were charged with producing asset management plans as a prelude to privatization. These plans had to provide an auditable statement with respect to the condition and performance of underground assets, with a view to defining and setting priorities for investment requirements.Some water authorities were ill‐prepared for producing the required formalized plans, resulting in variable confidence limits being placed on the identified investment requirements. A need existed to refine most plans, which was reinforced by a statutory requirement to update the asset management plans.This paper deals particularly with water distribution systems and provides an insight into the production of asset management plans. A brief review of the current approach used by a certain major water plc, to update and refine their plans, is also included. The contribution of asset management plans to the effective management of distribution network investment and operation in England and Wales should not be underestimated and is equally relevant in Scotland.

Towards TQM in the water industry: a sampling approach

The Asset Management Plans that have recently been prepared by Water Companies are a first step towards Total Quality Management. The role of sampling and the use of multiple regression analysis in...

The Role of Asset Management

ABSTRACTThe paper describes the role of asset management in the UK water industry. An asset management plan is directed to capital works and other expenditure associated with maintaining the condition and performance of the utility's assets. The six parts of an asset management plan are described, together with an outline of the broad considerations necessary in the preparation of such a plan. This leads to a description of the role of asset management and a consideration of the impact on the utility organization.It is concluded that asset management planning provides an effective method of determining long‐term investment needs and is of major benefit in the day‐to‐day management of a utility.

Australian Infrastructure Financial Management Guidelines

The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) has recently published the Australian Infrastructure Financial Management Guidelines. The Guidelines provide new assistance to link the technical (engineering) and financial aspects of managing infrastructure and services, and to assist infrastructure owners such as local government to develop sustainable long-term asset and financial management plans.Financial management for long-life infrastructure assets (such as roads, water, sewerage, and stormwater networks, and community buildings) is about ensuring sustainability in the provision of services required by the community. These new Guidelines offer advice for every organisation and individual with responsibility for the management of infrastructure assets. They assist in defining best practice approaches for:• Accounting for infrastructure• Depreciation, valuation, useful life, fair value• Managing financial sustainability• Integrating asset management planning and long term financial planning• Meeting requirements for financial reportingThe project was a joint initiative of IPWEA and the National Local Government Financial Management Forum. A steering committee representing national and state governments, technical and financial professionals, local government associations and auditors oversaw it.