Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-06-021
Date: December 2005

Articles in this Issue

Asset Management: Working for You

Making asset management work in your organization: the theme of the recent Sixth National Conference on Transportation Asset Management is also the continuing goal of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Asset Management. As demonstrated at the November 2005 conference, asset management is working for an ever growing number of States, cities, and counties, both large and small. For example, in Washington, DC, the first tunnel management system designed for nationwide use is providing the city with a valuable tool for the future monitoring of the condition and performance of its highway tunnels (see May 2005 Focus).

A Nationwide Boost for Preserving the Highway Infrastructure

Since launching its Pavement Preservation Technical Assistance Program earlier this year, the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Asset Management has worked with highway agencies around the country to evaluate their pavement preservation programs and offer assistance in developing and expanding their current practices. "We are learning a lot about what is being done at the State level, the variety of levels of experience in pavement preservation, and the different approaches to preserving highway assets," says Christopher Newman of FHWA. These peer evaluations are being carried out by FHWA through a contract with the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP).

Economic Analysis and Asset Management: A New Approach in Hillsborough County

Using a new and comprehensive asset management system for its roadway and stormwater infrastructure, the Public Works Department of Hillsborough County, Florida, has transformed its approach to managing, improving, and replacing its highway assets. Instead of the previous management approach that relied on corrective rather than preventive maintenance strategies and made decisions based largely on historic line-item expenditures and reactions to public or political demands, the new system includes all of the forecasting elements necessary to perform multiyear budgeting of maintenance, operations, and capital replacement of assets as needed.

Bridge Management Systems: Meeting the Challenges of Managing Bridge Assets

As an increasing number of States implement an asset management approach to managing transportation infrastructure, the use of bridge management systems is playing a key role in collecting and managing bridge data and managing bridge assets. Forty-one States and five municipalities are now using the Pontis^® Bridge Management System, a comprehensive software tool initially developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and now available from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as an AASHTOWare^® product.

Highway Technology Calendar