Current Projects

Transportation Asset Management Expert Task Group

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Asset Management has formed the Transportation Asset Management Expert Task Group (TAM ETG) as a forum to discuss changes in the way highway agencies are managing assets. The structure and membership of the TAM ETG were intentionally designed to ensure interaction with key AASHTO and Transportation Research Board committees. The Transportation Asset Management ETG will:

Outline a framework for financially sustainable infrastructure and service delivery that clarifies connections between asset management, stewardship, risk management, performance management, and long-term financial planning;
Identify strategies for advancing asset management practice and influencing change within state DOTs and partnering with transportation agencies by addressing gaps in the framework, roles and responsibilities, drivers, tools, and/or workforce skills;
Provide input to FHWA, AASHTO, and TRB regarding direction, definitions, processes, tools, and templates associated with implementation of state and local transportation asset management plans;
Develop and implement a plan for communicating the work of the TAM ETG to the transportation community.

More information on the ETG

Webinars on Asset Management

FHWA with the AASHTO Subcommittee on Asset Management FHWA will conduct webinars on Asset Management topics beginning the summer of 2012. The Subcommittee recommended that the following topics be addressed in future webinars:

Present the key topics discussed at the "Peer Exchange - Beyond Pavements and Bridges: Transportation Asset Management with a Focus on Safety (2011)"
Key findings from the 2011 International Study Tour on Managing Pavements, Managing Performance
Webinar focused on presenting the results from NCHRP 43-01, "Use of Transportation Asset Management Principles in State Highway Agencies,"
Webinar on Reauthorization with regard to Asset Management; however, may need to wait until it is approved.
Follow-up of the TRB Event 185, Successful Asset Management Business Models and Barriers to their Implementation.

Improving FHWA's Ability to Assess Highway Infrastructure Health

Over the past several years, the importance of preserving existing transportation infrastructure has received increased focus. A fundamental element of the performance of a transportation system is the physical condition of the assets that comprise it. Consequently, the preservation of existing assets is a critical element of the nation's transportation programs, and the identification of performance measures designed to capture and communicate the physical condition of bridges and pavement are needed. This study focuses on enhancing the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) ability to assess the health of the nation's highway infrastructure. It has two main objectives:

Define a consistent and reliable method of assessing infrastructure health with a focus on bridges and pavements on the Interstate Highway System; and
To develop tools to provide FHWA and State Department of Transportation (DOT) personnel ready access to key information that will allow for a better and more complete view of infrastructure health nationally.

Expected Completion Date: June 2013

Risk-Based Transportation Asset Management

As the United States considers developing risk-based transportation asset management (TAM) plans, agencies will need to understand risk and how it can be used to improve decision making in asset management programs. This is the first of five reports that the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) is developing to define risk, explain risk management and examine their application to TAM both in the U.S. and abroad. This first report provides an overview of risk management as applied to managing physical assets. These reports will:

Define risk and risk management;
Illustrate how they can be applied to managing infrastructure assets;
Delineate how risk management differs from, but also complements, performance management and asset management;
Provide a brief step-by-step outline for how agencies can begin managing risks;
Elaborate on how risk management is being used by transportation professionals in the U.S. and internationally to improve decision-making, demonstrate accountability and increase transparency;
Illustrate how risk management can improve programs, and;
Discuss how risk management prepares for and responds to natural and man-made disasters.

Expected Completion Date: September 2012

Pavement Management Roadmap Marketing Plan

In 2010, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) undertook a study to develop a roadmap for managing pavement assets. Representatives from state highway agencies, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), local agencies, universities, industry, technology transfer centers, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) came together at three workshops to identify issues that were precluding agencies from deriving the maximum benefit from their pavement management systems. They identified research, development, and technology transfer activities that should be undertaken to address those issues. Their recommendations were then presented as 47 problem statements in the Pavement Management Roadmap published by FHWA. As a follow-on to that effort, the FHWA is developing a marketing plan to broaden the awareness of transportation stakeholders to the potential the Roadmap activities hold for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their pavement management practices and to persuade them to advocate for the development and funding of Roadmap projects and activities.

Expected Completion Date: March 2014

Status of PM Roadmap Problem Statement-Related Activities

This activity involves maintaining a database that will serve as a repository of information about the Pavement Management Roadmap activities, including a status report on the Roadmap projects, and links to articles and information about the Roadmap projects. It will also serve as an electronic file cabinet for individuals and organizations seeking additional information about the Roadmap. The progress against each problem statement is tracked and documented in a spreadsheet with planned, on-going and completed related activities.

Pilot Project - Development of Transportation Asset Management Plans (TAMP) by the Louisiana, Minnesota and New York State Departments of Transportation (DOT)

The FHWA Office of Asset Management has worked to advance Asset Management and encouraged best practices that would lead to preserving existing highway infrastructure assets. MAP 21 includes requirements pertaining to the process for development of Risk Based Transportation Asset Management Plans (TAMP) that includes strategies leading to a program of projects that would make progress toward achievement of the State targets for asset condition and performance of the National Highway System. Although the development of TAMPs has received a lot of attention because of the MAP 21 requirements, the real benefit is that of laying out in writing the process of how to best manage the highway pavements, bridges, and other physical assets for the long term. Short and long term resource allocation decisions should be based on data and analysis including consideration of engineering, life-cycle cost, and risk analysis with investment strategies being developed to best manage the physical assets with the limited funding available and anticipated in the future. Development of TAMPs should result in improved coordination between the maintenance, preservation and the capital programs. The TAMPs should also be an important means of incorporating asset management into the long range planning process.

Pavement Health Track Tool

The FHWA has recently developed the Pavement Health Track (PHT) Analysis Tool that can help determine the health of a road network in terms of Remaining Service Life. The tool can determine the health of different pavement types under various conditions, such as rural or urban environments or various climates, and a range of applications, including individual projects, highway networks, and corridors within a State or crossing State lines. The tool requires pavement data inputs from the HPMS 2010 or a State can input data from its pavement management system. The PHT analysis tool has already been tested by a few States. These tests resulted in several recommendations for further enchantment of the tool. As a result, the FHWA is undertaking this effort to enhance the PHT.

To obtain a copy of the tool (first version) and view relevant documentations please visit the following:

Expected Completion Date: September 2013

Asset Management