Asset Management

Purpose

Asset management is an emerging concept in the transportation industry. The idea is to manage our infrastructure (assets) by focusing on performance. Asset management takes a “strategic” approach to transportation, one that looks at the network as a whole, rather than as series of individual projects in distinct jurisdictions. The concept is based on the principles of stewardship of public resources, accountability to users of the system, and continuous improvement.

Asset management requires a solid foundation of data, which will allow transportation professionals to monitor the transportation system and plan how to optimize the preservation, improvement and timely replacement of assets. Instead of simply accounting for existing infrastructure, asset management strives to ensure the proper use and performance of those assets, a process that involves the continuous assessment of conditions and evaluation of trade-offs between different actions.

The major elements of an Asset Management process are:

Establishing goals and objectives through development of a strategic plan,
Collecting data to determine current pavement and bridge conditions,
Using management systems to control the various processes,
Identifying standards and benchmarks,
Developing appropriate performance measures,
Making decisions based on these results and developing an appropriate program,
Implementing the program, and
Monitoring and reporting results of actions taken.

Asset Management in Michigan

Public Act 499 of 2002 establishes a ten member Transportation Asset Management Council. The Council is comprised of members from the Michigan

Department of Transportation, the County Road Association of Michigan, the Municipal League, the regional planning agencies, the Michigan Association of Counties, and the Michigan Townships Association. According to the Act, the mission of the Council is to: “Advise the State Transportation Commission on a statewide asset management strategy and the necessary procedures and analytical tools to implement such a strategy on Michigan ’s highway system in a cost-effective, efficient manner.”

The law requires the council to set up a process for determining the condition of Michigan ’s highways and bridges and to develop a strategy so that those assets are maintained, preserved and improved in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The Asset Management Council will initially develop a strategy for Michigan ’s federal-aid eligible roads and bridges. Once this process has been fully established for the federal-aid eligible roads and bridges it is to be extended to all public roads.

The Asset Management process is one of cooperation among the various owners of the assets. The process began with a statewide Road Condition Survey for federal-aid eligible roads and bridges. Using this data as a basis, the Transportation Asset Management Council will identify deficiencies and develop broad, network-level goals and objectives, focusing on statewide targets for system condition. The individual road agencies will continue to make project-level decisions and identify which projects will be undertaken, hopefully addressing the identified deficiencies in their project schedules.

An Annual Report detailing all road and bridge work performed by MDOT and the local road agencies will be submitted to the State Transportation Commission and the Legislature by May 2 of each year. The Asset Management Council must also publish a Multi-Year Program consisting of a list of all highway and bridge projects that are anticipated to be constructed over a three-year period. This program must be available by October 1 of each year.

The benefits of the Asset Management approach include:

Taking a systematic approach to the entire network,
Proactively managing rates of deterioration,
Committing to do the right fix at the right time, and
The ability to meet established network goals.

Federal Aid Road Condition Survey

In August of 2003 a statewide survey of all the federal-aid eligible roads began. The purpose of this survey is to create a database of uniform pavement condition ratings for use by the Transportation Asset Management Council in its strategic planning efforts. The survey was undertaken by teams comprised of an MDOT representative, a representative from the appropriate regional planning organization, and a representative from the local road agency. Three data items were collected: Surface type, number of lanes, and the PASER surface rating.

PASER is a 1-10 rating system based on a windshield survey. The survey team drove all of the federal aid roads and the used the PASER system to rate the road surface. The 6 counties of the Western U.P. were rated between August 18 and September 12, 2003 and most recently July 26 through October 25, 2004. The results can be seen using the following links. Results are reported in three categories:

Routine maintenance (ratings of 8-10)
Capital preventive maintenance (ratings 5-7)
Structural improvements (ratings 1-4)

Western U.P. 2007 Road Condition Survey (By County)

2007 PASER Ratings Map - Baraga County

2007 PASER Ratings Map - Gogebic County

2007 PASER Ratings Map - Houghton County

2007 PASER Ratings Map - Iron County

2007 PASER Ratings Map - Keweenaw County

2007 PASER Ratings Map - Ontonagon County

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2006 PASER Ratings Map - Baraga County

2006 PASER Ratings Map - Gogebic County

2006 PASER Ratings Map - Houghton County

2006 PASER Ratings Map - Iron County

2006 PASER Ratings Map - Keweenaw County

2006 PASER Ratings Map - Ontonagon County

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Western U.P. 2005 Road Condition Survey Summary (By County)

2005 PASER Ratings Map - Baraga County

2005 PASER Ratings Map - Gogebic County

2005 PASER Ratings Map - Houghton County

2005 PASER Ratings Map - Iron County

2005 PASER Ratings Map - Keweenaw County

2005 PASER Ratings Map - Ontonagon County

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Western U.P. 2004 Road Condition Survey Summary (By County)

2004 PASER Ratings Map - Baraga County

2004 PASER Ratings Map - Gogebic County

2004 PASER Ratings Map - Houghton County

2004 PASER Ratings Map - Iron County

2004 PASER Ratings Map - Keweenaw County

2004 PASER Ratings Map - Ontonagon County

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Western U.P. 2003 Road Condition Survey Summary (By County)

2003 PASER Ratings Map - Baraga County

2003 PASER Ratings Map - Gogebic County

2003 PASER Ratings Map - Houghton County

2003 PASER Ratings Map - Iron County

2003 PASER Ratings Map - Keweenaw County

2003 PASER Ratings Map - Ontonagon County

Multi-Year Program

Beginning October 1, 2003, MDOT, each county road commission, and each city and village shall annually prepare and publish a multiyear program, based on long-range plans, and developed through the use of the asset management process. The Multi-Year Program shall include any project funded in whole or in part with state or federal funds that is programmed for construction during the next three years.

The following links show all projects programmed for 2003-05 in the six counties of the Western U.P.

Multi-Year Program Project Table

Multi-Year Program Project Map

For more information regarding Asset Management in the Western Upper Peninsula, please contact:

Ken Marshall, GIS Specialist

Phone: 906-482-7205 or toll free at 1-800-562-7614

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