Investment Maintenance Research Articles

Road Maintenance Practices in Nepal: A Case Study of Malekhu – Mugling Road Section

Road degradation is a major issue in Nepal due to main focus only on backlog maintenance and upgradation which evidently is an unsuccessful maintenance investment strategy worldwide. Considering global success of PBMC in time-cost-quality spectrum, it has been implemented in Nepal since 2003 but without success. Thus, ADB in 2016 revised PBM specifications and re-executed it, whose performance potential must be accessed with respect to current SMDP practice. The current study analyzes and compares effectiveness of SMDP and PBMC in terms of cost and quality for Malekhu- Mugling road section, and suggests a suitable maintenance practice in the current scenario of Nepal. This study reveals that strengthening SMDP practice shall be focused on before releasing a long term PBMC. The study concludes that the most suitable practice in terms of cost quality optimization is a strengthened SMDP as per PBMC standard whereby length worker perform PBMC standard routine, pavement and intervention based repairs due to their reliability during emergency. Then, one year contract shall be released incorporating two recurrent (prior and post monsoon) and a specific contract where contractors essentially follow performance based maintenance of roadside structures, traffic safety, pavement defects if any, and any emergency maintenance during monsoon. It is recommended that PBMC model shall be developed gradually from one year contract to multiyear contracts since there may be high chances of claims and conflicts in four year long PBMC.

Whether it is economical to use combined heat and power (CHP) system for the efficient utilization of associated petroleum gas in oil extraction sites in China: A cost-benefit analysis considering environmental benefits

The efficient use of associated petroleum gas with combined heat and power (CHP) systems in oil extraction sites has proven to be technically feasible, but its economic inefficiency continues to deter oil companies from using CHP, given that simple fuel cost reductions do not yield significant positive returns in the face of large investments in purchasing and maintaining CHP. This research constructs a cost-benefit analysis model, which includes the monetized environmental benefits generated by CHP. A pilot experiment operated in a certain oilfield in Shandong province shows that the annual difference between the reduction in fuel costs and the investment in purchase and maintenance of CHP is only about ¥210,000 per device. However, when environmental benefits including health benefit and low-carbon benefit are included in the model, the annual environmental benefits of a single equipment update can be about ¥760,000, and the overall annual net benefits will reach about ¥970,000. It is concluded that the application of CHP in oil extraction sites is economically efficient, taking into account the environmental benefit it can produce. The research results will help oil companies use CHP to make more contributions to carbon and air pollutant emission reduction. However, considering that a large number of CHP systems can form a distributed energy structure, the proposed model still has limitations.

Current street tree communities reflect race-based housing policy and modern attempts to remedy environmental injustice.

Humans promote and inhibit other species on the urban landscape, shaping biodiversity patterns. Institutional racism may underlie the distribution of urban species by creating disproportionate resources in space and time. Here, we examine whether present-day street tree occupancy, diversity, and composition in Baltimore, MD, USA, neighborhoods reflect their 1937 classification into grades of loan risk-from most desirable (A = green) to least desirable (D = "redlined")-using racially discriminatory criteria. We find that neighborhoods that were redlined have consistently lower street tree α-diversity and are nine times less likely to have large (old) trees occupying a viable planting site. Simultaneously, redlined neighborhoods were locations of recent tree planting activities, with a high occupancy rate of small (young) trees. However, the community composition of these young trees exhibited lower species turnover and reordering across neighborhoods compared to those in higher grades, due to heavy reliance on a single tree species. Overall, while the negative effects of redlining remain detectable in present-day street tree communities, there are clear signs of recent investment. A strategy of planting diverse tree cohorts paired with investments in site rehabilitation and maintenance may be necessary if cities wish to overcome ecological feedbacks associated with legacies of environmental injustice.

Road Infrastructure Investment Limits Based on Minimal Accidents Using Artificial Neural Network

Road traffic accidents are still among the top major global causes of death, injury, and disability. Despite this cause for alarm and several preventive initiatives, global road accident statistics are not improving. This study modeled annual road accidents (ARAs) as a function of demographic, economic, passenger movement, freight movement, and road capital investment indicators. The research is based on 22 years of data from more than 36 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member and partner countries. Artificial neural network (ANN), multiple linear regression (MLR), and Poisson regression (PR) analysis were employed for this purpose. The ANN model outperformed the regression models by far, thus making it possible for reliable new insights and accurate results to be obtained. The ANN’s superior performance was shown to be a result of the non-linear relationship between ARA and some of the predicting variables. The average relative contribution of each variable in describing the ARA models was estimated using connection weight analysis (from the ANN model) and relative weight analysis for the regression model. The profile method was used to perform sensitivity analysis and to establish the partial variation trend of the ARA with each of the variables. The Existing Road Maintenance Investment (ERMI) and New Road Infrastructural Investment (NRII) showed a nonlinear concave-up relationship with ARA for given demography, economy, freight, and passenger movements. A combination of per capita NRII and ERMI corresponding to the minimum ARA exists. These sets of NRII and ERMI were considered safe road investment limits. The ANN-ARA model was utilized to estimate these limits with their relative proportion for diverse combinations of demography, economy, freight level, and passenger movement.

Government Spending on Infrastructure and Private Investment: A Disaggregated Analysis

Limited empirical studies have disaggregated the government spending into infrastructure and consumption expenditures in this thematic area. More so, Kenya has witnessed a tremendous increase in spending on infrastructural projects such as highways, road, ports, fiber optic, standard gauge railway, and massive investment in road management and maintenance. All these efforts are meant to accelerate the realization of the Kenya Vision 2030 as well as the ‘Big Four’ agenda of the Kenyan government. The aim of this research was to investigate the role of infrastructure sector spending on private investment in the country. The study used secondary data for 1963 to 2018 from annual statistical abstracts and economic surveys report. To achieve the outlined objective, the study adopted Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique and the Error Correction Model (ECM) estimation approach. Infrastructure outlay in health, agriculture and roads was found to positively impact private investment in the long run. On the contrary, defense and education development spending influence private investment negatively in the long run. This paper concludes that public sector infrastructure outlays are key in determining private investment and that different public spending component affect investment differently in both long- run and short- run. This study recommends that the government should consider increasing and sustaining spending on infrastructure development projects like roads, ports, fiber optic, railways, highways maintenance, agriculture mechanization, improving public health infrastructure to stimulate further the economic activities.

Economic policy uncertainty and enterprise investment decision: Evidence from China

We empirically examine the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the investment decision of China's high-tech manufacturing industry based on the company's investment structure. There are several findings. First, innovation investment and maintenance investment are mutually exclusive. However, enterprise prefers innovation investment when facing higher EPU. Second, excess return, asset irreversibility and external market demand are three important mechanisms of the impact of EPU on the corporate investment decision. Finally, higher financing constraints weaken the impact of EPU on investment decision. Firms with higher capital intensity tend to reduce both innovation investment and maintenance investment when EPU rises. The research shows that when the EPU increases, enterprises in China's high-tech manufacturing industry are more inclined to choose innovation investment.

Is this the end of the road for bio-inspired road construction materials?

The global road network spans 64.3million km and is of huge significance for the social and economic development. The level of investment in road construction and maintenance is high, e.g. EU €44billion/year (2019), China €614.7billion/year (2019) and US €94billion/year (2019). Despite the level of investment, there has been minimal investment in the development of new asphalt technologies, particularly when compared with R&D investment in other industries, such as the automotive industry. Despite the limited investment, there have been some innovations in asphalt technology. For the past 20 years, researchers have developed bio-inspired asphalt technology, self-healing and bio-binders and have applied them to asphalt pavements. This research has emerged as a response to global warming and the need to reduce both carbon emissions and reliance on oil in asphalt technology. This paper charts the development of two bio-inspired technologies and considers their significance in relation to the need to reduce carbon emissions and oil dependence (in line with the UN strategic goals, specifically: SDG 9, 11 and 12). This paper considers the potential benefits of bio-inspired technologies and outlines the current barriers to their further development. This paper aims to begin a conversation with stakeholders on how to speed up the acceptance of bio-inspired asphalt technologies and their adoption in road design, construction and maintenance. Or is it the case that we have reached the end of the road for bio-inspired road construction materials?

Implications of poorly designed climate policy on energy poverty: Global reflections on the current surge in energy prices

With the recovery of the world economy following the easing of restrictions designed to contain COVID-19, energy demand has surged, even as natural gas stocks have run dangerously low. In addition to the reduced investment in upstream energy resources, infrastructure and maintenance since the outbreak of COVID-19, the situation is exacerbated by supply constraints. This situation has triggered one of the first significant energy shocks of the green era and exposed the fragilities of the premature greening of energy system processes. A recent study indicates that 80 million European households are struggling to stay warm, and the recent spike in energy costs is expected to aggravate the problem. Here, we examine the impact of the energy-price boom on the state of energy poverty in Europe. This paper highlights how energy prices and the green transition may exacerbate the energy poverty trap in Europe. It emphasizes one of the downside effects of poorly designed climate policies. This discussion offers insights and important policy implications that may help trigger debates on energy poverty in developing countries. It argues that poorly designed climate policy may initiate new forms of inequalities and reaffirm existing ones by undermining the foundation of individuals' capabilities. It also reveals a pivotal shift in the underlying drivers of countries' future success in addressing climate change, eliminating energy poverty, and achieving energy justice. The analysis strengthens the case that climate policies must go hand-in-hand with inequality and energy poverty mitigation.

Integrated predictive maintenance approach for multistate manufacturing system considering geometric and non-geometric defects of products

The adverse consequences caused by product defects can intuitively characterize the abnormal performance state of manufacturing systems in advance. Defects can be divided into geometric and non-geometric defects according to the difference of expression characteristics. Compared with machine failure data, the various effects and economic losses caused by product defects are more conducive to guide the development and optimization of maintenance strategies, which are rarely discussed. Therefore, from the perspective of product defect information, a novel integrated predictive maintenance (PdM) strategy is proposed to improve the performance of manufacturing systems. First, the influences of product geometric and non-geometric defects on the performance of manufacturing system are expounded, and two types of reliability metrics and the corresponding connotation are proposed and applied to PdM activities. Second, the mechanism of product defects caused by machine degradation is analyzed, and the quantitative models of the reliability are established. Third, the expected maintenance investment and economic loss in the planning horizon are evaluated, and the optimal PdM strategy is proposed according to the principle of total cost minimization. Finally, an industrial example of PdM decision making for a ferrite phase shifting unit manufacturing system is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Public-school infrastructure ageing and current challenges in maintenance

PurposeSchool infrastructure is one of critical factors that significantly contribute to the educational outcomes, and therefore, maintaining the high quality of school infrastructure becomes of critical importance. Due to the ageing of school assets over time in combination with budget constraint and rapid growth of student enrolment, many public schools are currently struggling to maintain the required standard for long term. However, to date, the goal of providing the best maintenance practices to public schools has not been achieved.Design/methodology/approachThe present study focuses on studying the balance between the asset and maintenance management strategies and the funding model through conducting state-of-the-art literature review and qualitative analysis in the context of public schools in Australia and other developed countries around the world. Review of journal articles, different government reports and other available resources were used to collect and analyse the data in this study.FindingsAs part of this review, significant under investment in maintenance and asset renewals were identified as main challenges in asset management in public school facilities. Although different maintenance strategies were used in school infrastructure, adequate funding, adequate robust asset management plans (AMPs) and the involvement of private sectors have been identified as the key factors that govern the success in school infrastructure maintenance. It also shows that funding of approximately 2–3% of asset replacement value (ARV) on school infrastructure is required to maintain school facilities for long-term. Further, the procurement methods such as public private partnership including private finance initiatives (PFIs) have shown great improvements in maintenance process in school infrastructure.Originality/valueThe study provides a review of different AMPs and funding models in school infrastructure and their efficiencies and shortcoming in detail. Different states and countries use different maintenance models, and challenges associated with each model were also discussed. Further this study also provides some conclusive evidence for better maintenance performance for school buildings.

Methodology for risk management in dams from the event tree and FMEA analysis

Some studies that analyze the risk of dam failures estimate that between 2016 and 2025 about 30 major tragedies should be expected. Failure records between 1900 and 2014 indicate that there is an average of three ruptures every two years, considering only the failures that were officially registered and investigated. It can be said that the potential for dam failures will be driven by the economy, since cost has been the main variable considered in the design, construction, operation, monitoring and closing plan of these structures. As companies reduce investments in maintenance, risk management and failure prevention, there is an incentive for economic recovery, competitiveness of product value and debt reduction, required by investors. The result has been a decrease in specialized labor, to the point that companies no longer have sufficient knowledge about the engineering and operational skills that apply to tailings and water management. Learning from the dams’ tragedies is practically non-existent, in Brazil and worldwide, leading to catastrophic environmental and social consequences. Failures will occur as long as they are viewed and treated as unpredictable, thereby lacking risk management. The proposed risk management method, presented in this paper, considers the information of inspection and instrumentation, identifying risks from event trees, separately, intolerable, tolerable and acceptable risks. The intolerable risks are conducted for FMEA-type failure analysis, where severe, intermediate and mild failures are assessed. The objective is to enable the development of an assertive and effective action plan for dam safety management.

Applicability of Gas Turbine Traction in High-Speed Rail Projects in Russia

Recently, the issue of advisability of building dedicated highspeed railways (HSR) in Russia for transportation of passengers and goods has often been raised in the scientific and industry environment. The key risk of such large-scale investment projects is a significant or rather long payback period due to the lower population density in the areas of the proposed HSR compared to, for example, China. In addition, when planning such capitalintensive and resource-intensive investments, it is necessary to consider plans for development of other modes of transport, namely, express highways, air traffic, as direct competitors to speed and high-speed railways.A way to increase the competitiveness of HSR may be to reduce capital costs during the construction. The creation of HSR, where multiple-unit trains powered by gas turbine engines (GTE) and using AC-AC electric drive, will allow to renounce investments in expensive design, construction, and subsequent maintenance of energy facilities, specialised HSR catenary, which will ensure reduction in the cost of HSR projects, in construction time, and accelerated payback of railways.The article describes the advantages of operating gas turbine traction on speed and high-speed railway lines. The possible structure and layout of such trains are shown. The risks of operation of rolling stock powered by GTE are considered as well as the ways to neutralise them. The objective of the study was to identify the comparative advantages of multiple unit trains powered by GTE compared to high-speed electric trains. The study used methods of comparative analysis, content analysis of technical information, and ranking. It is concluded that introduction of GTE will reduce the investment and operating costs of speed and high-speed railways while maintaining the power and dynamic characteristics of trains.

Asset Management of Existing Concrete Bridges Using Digital Twins and BIM: a State-of-the-Art Literature Review

Abstract The need to optimize investments in bridge maintenance has created a demand for improved bridge management systems (BMS). Outdated practices in bridge inspection and constant advances in information technology have also contributed to this demand. The use of Digital Twins (DT), although well established in other industries, is still incipient for asset management and structural analysis of bridges. There is a great deal of research on Building Information Modelling (BIM) for bridge inspection, but its post-construction potential is still under-explored. This study presents a state-of-the-art review of the literature on asset management for bridges using digital models such as BIM and digital twins. The review was conducting using a systematic approach. Despite the rapid increase in research on DT and the amount of existing research on BIM, several gaps remain to be addressed, such as the lack of consensus about the definition of digital twins, which has led to wrongful categorisation of digital models as DT. The complex data flow and software compatibility required to develop a functional DT have hindered the exploitation of their full potential so far. The integration of BIM post-construction to BMS and existing automation technologies can also significantly improve current practices of bridge management.

Directions of Stimulation of the Development of Tourism Infrastructure by Attraction of Investments

This article notes that the uncertainty of the consequences of the pandemic has shown the need for the development of domestic tourism, the creation of modern health resort and tourism services and improving the quality of tourism infrastructure by attracting investments for maintenance and provision of transport and the development of tourism products and services, the introduction of environmental protection measures. Using the given statistical data on the development of the tourism and hospitality industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the authors analyzed the influence of some factors influencing the development of the tourism industry. The indicators of the structure of the population's expenditures on paid services, the distribution of resident visitors by purpose of travel at places of accommodation for 2021, the number of visitors served at places of accommodation for tourists in general in Kazakhstan, the main indicators of financial and economic activities in the field of tourism for 2016-2021 are given, performance indicators of tourist infrastructure facilities for the analyzed period. Proposals are given for the transformation of the most significant tourist sites included in the Touristification Map of Kazakhstan into one tourist cluster with a unique dominant experimental structure with transfer to foreign tourism markets in the future.

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Research of Cavitation Jets in Dual-Chamber Self-Excited Oscillating Pulsed Nozzles

Self-excited oscillating pulsed cavitation jet has many advantages, such as easy operation, simply maintenance, and low investment costs. Based on the structural parameters of the traditional Helmholtz and organ pipe single-chamber self-excited oscillating pulsed nozzles, Helmholtz + Helmholtz, organ pipe + organ pipe, and Helmholtz + organ pipe dual-chamber self-excited oscillating pulsed nozzles with different structures are established in series, and the internal flow field of the dual chamber is studied to obtain the best combination nozzle by comparing numerical simulation and erosion experiments. The results indicate that the cleaning effect is the best when adopting the combined structure of Helmholtz + organ pipe, which brings out the largest volume fraction of the nozzle cavity with higher gas content and higher kinetic energy with larger jet velocity. By comparing the erosion experiments, it is found that the flushing area and erosion depth of the nozzle with the ratio of cavity and wall (D/a) of 2.50 is significantly higher than the nozzle with the ratio of cavity and wall (D/a) of 5.00. The pulse pressure of the flushing target increases by 0.0044 MPa, the pressure amplitude of the former changes significantly in the same cavitation cycle, and the cleaning effect is best.

Multi-Asset Defect Hotspot Prediction for Highway Maintenance Management: A Risk-Based Machine Learning Approach

Transportation agencies constantly strive to tackle the challenge of limited budgets and continuously deteriorating highway infrastructure. They look for optimal solutions to make intelligent maintenance and repair investments. Condition prediction of highway assets and, in turn, prediction of their maintenance needs are key elements of effective maintenance optimization and prioritization. This paper proposes a novel risk-based framework that expands the potential of available data by considering the probabilistic susceptibility of assets in the prediction process. It combines a risk score generator with machine learning to forecast the hotspots of multiple defects while considering the interrelations between defects. With this, we developed a scalable algorithm, Multi-asset Defect Hotspot Predictor (MDHP), and then demonstrated its performance in a real-world case. In the case study, MDHP predicted the hotspots of three defects on paved ditches, considering the interrelation between paved ditches and five nearby assets. The results demonstrate an acceptable accuracy in predicting hotspots while highlighting the interrelation between adjacent assets and their contribution to future defects. Overall, this study offers a scalable approach with contribution in data-driven multi-asset maintenance planning with potential benefits to a broader range of linear infrastructures such as sewers, water networks, and railroads.

ANALISIS PENERAPAN TOTAL PRODUCTIVE MAINTANANCE (TPM) DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN METODE OVERALL EQUIPMENT EFFECTIVENESS (OEE) DI PT XYZ

This study aims to analyze the application of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) in a pharmaceutical company in Bandung which is currently moving from an increasingly widespread industrial location, so that there are new products. TPM is a useful system in increasing productivity, increasing productivity on various production tools and equipment with only the necessary maintenance investment. Evaluation of the implementation of the TPM pillars is carried out through the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) analysis method, visual management, lost time injury (LTI) and time accident rate (TAR). Another result is that the implementation of the planned maintenance pillar has not reached the target according to the standard, both in terms of availability and performance rate parameters. The pillar that has not been implemented in this company is autonomous maintenance. The conclusion from this research is that PT XYZ has not effectively implemented TPM in its factory operations. The recommendation from this research is the need for the implementation of autonomous maintenance pillars and scheduled replacement of engine components to solve problems that exist in the factory and can be focused in particular on critical work areas

A real options analysis of existing green energy facilities: maintain or replace?

We consider an operator of machinery with deteriorating efficiency, facing the problem of optimally timing of either a minor (maintenance) investment or a major (replacement) investment under price uncertainty. If a maintenance investment is chosen, the efficiency of the machinery will deteriorate more slowly, and replacing later is still possible. The optimal decision rule is expressed in the form of thresholds for long-run prices, indicating that it may be rational to wait to see which of the large and small investment is the better choice. We relate the setting to repowering of green energy facilities, such as hydropower plants and wind farms. Our analysis provides several managerial insights. We characterize the conditions that govern whether the smaller investment should be considered at all, and we quantify the effect of having a replacement option embedded in a maintenance option. Our analysis demonstrates that the large investment may get postponed significantly in expectation, which recognizes maintenance as a temporary alternative to replacement.

The effect of ownership structure on investment decisions under exogenous shocks

AbstractResearch Question/IssueWe assess how ownership concentration influences the sensitivities of expansion investments and maintenance investments to changes in a firm's cash flow. We find the causal effect by exploiting the exogenous variation in the price of a firm's product. We also evaluate whether state versus private ownership affects the impact of ownership concentration on investment–cash flow sensitivities.Research Findings/InsightsUsing detailed data from 134 major copper mines operating in 29 countries over a 17‐year period, we show that a more concentrated ownership increases the sensitivity of expansion investments to changes in a firm's cash flow, while we do not detect a significant effect for maintenance investments. We also find that state ownership negatively moderates the effects of ownership concentration on the expansion investment–cash flow sensitivity.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsThe findings improve our understanding of ownership structures and show the nuances of these structures when different ownership features are combined in the assessment of investment sensitivities.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsThe asymmetric effects of ownership structures on different investment sensitivities call for a more fine‐grained analysis of incentives, benchmarking, and information disclosure policies. This issue is especially relevant in state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and in firms with a low ownership concentration.

Insight of Ipomoea carnea and its use in wastewater treatment as ecofriendly, sustainable solution

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is much less than the other developed countries. Any ordinary citizen in such developing countries spend their major part of earnings on personal health. Majority of diseases are caused by improper sanitation practices or unhygienic conditions. There is need of decentralized system for the domestic wastewater treatment to improve the same. On the other hand, lack of maintenance of existing sanitation infrastructure and availability of the skilled persons or technicians to operate the dedicated treatment units create, the additional gap in treatment facilities. The effective investment in maintenance of treatment facilities and training of operators will save millions of rupees on the healthcare expenditure of the country. This research article will provide insights of Morning Glory (Ipomoea carnea) plant to be used in ecofriendly and sustainable domestic wastewater treatment. The article has several images captured through Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and conventional microscope along with android cell phones and cameras. This article will be useful to engineering fraternity to open up new area of applications of Ipomoea carnea in engineering applications.