Asset Management
- Publication no: AP-R588-18
- ISBN: 978-1-925671-85-8
- Published: 6 November 2018
- PDF (free) Download
There is an increasing need to demonstrate the value for money for all types of expenditure as governments are facing growing budgetary pressure. While there are established economic evaluation frameworks for evaluating transport capital projects, a framework for evaluating road maintenance expenditure is not commonly used, making it more vulnerable to budget cuts.
The purpose of this project is to develop a framework that can help decision makers assess the value of maintenance and renewal works, in a manner consistent with capital investments. To this end, cost benefit analysis (CBA) frameworks were developed for three distinct road asset functional groups, namely road surface and related assets, bridges and other structures, and navigation and guidance related assets.
The CBA frameworks are designed to measure the trade-offs decision makers are implicitly making when determining the appropriate level of road maintenance expenditure. That is, maintaining a higher level of service will lead to improved outcomes, such as faster travel speeds and fewer accidents, but will also require additional cost.
- Summary
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 The road network provides an essential service to the community
- 1.2 There is increasing pressure to justify road maintenance expenditure
- 1.3 The purpose of this report
- 1.4 What you will find in the remainder of this report
- 2. How the Road Network is Maintained
- 2.1 The role of different road features
- 2.2 The objective of maintenance and renewal works
- 2.3 The road hierarchy approach to maintaining the network
- 2.3.1 Developing customer focused performance outcomes
- 2.3.2 Identifying the functional purpose of a road
- 2.3.3 Developing technical performance measures for different road features
- 2.3.4 Setting levels of service
- 3. Our Approach
- 3.1 Our approach to meeting the research objective
- 3.2 Our approach to developing the cost benefit analysis framework
- 4. Benefits and Costs of Maintaining Road Surface
- 4.1 The role of road surface
- 4.2 Benefits of improved road surface condition
- 4.2.1 Road surface and safety outcomes
- 4.2.2 Road surface and road user costs
- 4.2.3 Road condition and user satisfaction
- 4.3 CBA framework for maintaining road surface
- 4.3.1 Overview of the hypothetical arterial road
- 4.3.2 Deterioration of road condition and implications for road users
- 4.3.3 Actions available to the hypothetical road agency
- 4.3.4 Funding scenario 1: the optimal strategy for the road agency
- 4.3.5 Funding scenario 2: a budget constraint is placed on the road agency
- 4.3.6 Implications of budget constraint
- 5. Bridges and Other Structures
- 5.1 The role of bridges and other structures
- 5.2 The consequence of reduced network availability
- 5.2.1 Temporary closure of a road
- 5.2.2 Permanent access restriction for heavy vehicles
- 5.3 CBA framework for maintaining bridges and other key structures
- 5.3.1 Overview of the hypothetical bridge and retaining wall
- 5.3.2 Deterioration and maintenance of bridge and retaining walls
- 5.3.3 Cost benefit analysis
- 6. Benefits and Costs of Maintaining Navigation and Guidance Related Assets
- 6.1 Overview of navigation and guidance related assets
- 6.2 Consequence of navigation and guidance asset failure
- 6.2.1 Electrical assets
- 6.2.2 Non-ITS assets
- 6.3 CBA framework for navigation and guidance related assets
- 6.3.1 Overview of the assets
- 6.3.2 Cost benefit analysis
- 7. Overall Business Case for Maintaining the Road
- 7.1 Overview of the asset and funding scenarios
- 7.2 Summary of CBA results
- 7.3 Linking maintenance and renewal works with performance outcomes
- 8. Further Work to Enhance the Framework
- 8.1 Quantifying amenity benefits
- 8.2 The relationship between activities, condition and user outcomes
- 8.3 Defining a minimum level of service
- References
- Appendix A Relationship between IRI and Speed
- Appendix B Further Details of CBA Parameters and Assumptions 53
- Appendix C Existing Studies on Evaluating Maintenance of Road Surface and Pavements 56