Compendium of Best Practices in Road Asset Management

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• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9789292610692
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Transportation & Navigation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

The objective of road asset management is generally to optimize economic benefits by minimizing maintenance costs and road user costs. This compendium presents the best practices for the introduction and development of road asset management based on a desktop review of the experiences in the 11 member countries of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program. These best practices reflect common problems the different CAREC member countries face, and the most successful solutions in the development of road asset management applied by CAREC and non-CAREC countries. This compendium also provides a general introduction to the concept of road asset management and presents an overview of the status of road asset management in each CAREC country.

Best Practices

The following are considered best practices in introducing and developing road asset management:

1. Limit the data to be collected.

2. Make the database easy to use.

3. Start with simple software.

4. Institutionalize from the start.

5. Publish annual performance statistics.

6. Integrate into decision-making processes.

7. Provide sufficient and predictable funding.

8. Separate management from implementation.

9. Ensure high-level support.

10. Continue development support.

11. Develop the works implementation capacity.

17. The review of the current status of road asset management in the 11 CAREC member countries resulted in the identification of common issues the CAREC countries face. These are not necessarily specific to the CAREC region, although the CAREC countries do have some common characteristics, especially since many of the countries were part of the former Soviet Union.

18. The review identified how certain CAREC member countries overcame these issues, providing lessons learned for other member countries. This was complemented by successful experiences from other countries outside the CAREC region and lessons from other studies on road asset management.

19. The result is the identification of a set of 11 best practices considered crucial to the successful introduction of a road asset management system (RAMS), and its integration into the institutional framework, road network planning and programming systems, road sector financing and budget allocation procedures, and the implementation of road maintenance works. These 11 best practices are introduced in detail in the following sections.

1. Limit the Data to be Collected

To limit the time and money spent on data collection, this should focus on minimum data requirements, collected at suitable levels of accuracy, using reliable methods of collection, applying appropriate data formats, and ensuring proper quality control procedures.

20. Road asset management is dependent on data. However, since the collection of data costs time and money, the data collection should be limited to what is actually needed. Collection of data not required or not suitable for use in the RAMS can make data collection too costly, putting the RAMS’ sustainability at risk.

21. Many CAREC countries spend time and money collecting data that is not required, too detailed, unreliable, or in a format that is not usable. When designing the data collection, the following requirements should be met:

22. Collect only what is required. A RAMS requires a limited amount of data for the entire network. This should not be confused with the data needs for project preparation, where more detailed data is required, but only for the few roads where interventions are planned. The types of data to be collected for the RAMS should be kept to a minimum, especially for data collected annually. Additional types of data can be gradually added as the RAMS evolves, other data needs are identified, and new data collection methods are introduced.

In Mongolia, annual surveys collected a lot of data that was not used in the RAMS or for other strategic planning purposes. The annual data collection has since been amended to focus on a more limited set of data types that are required for the RAMS, reducing the number of data types to be collected from 18 to 2 (roughness and surface condition).

23. Use an appropriate level of accuracy. Although the collection of very accurate data seems like a good idea, this generally increases the cost, while not necessarily improving the outcomes of the RAMS. Especially during the introduction of a RAMS, less expensive data collection methods may be preferable, even where these reduce the accuracy of the data.

24. Ensure data is reliable. Although a lower level of accuracy is acceptable, the data should be reliable. Only if data is reliable can the level of accuracy be kept within acceptable margins. Unreliable data leads to unreliable results, with errors in the data itself compounding the level of inaccuracy. It is preferable to use proven data collection methods for which there is some experience in the country, ensuring proper calibration and use of equipment. Over time, new technologies can be introduced to improve data reliability or reduce costs.

In the PRC, the introduction of automated survey vehicles greatly reduced the cost of data collection, while at the same time improving data reliability.

25. Ensure data has the correct format. Data must have the correct format to be entered into the RAMS, or should be easily transformed into that format. For instance, qualitative condition measurements of good or bad are not always easily translated into quantitative measurements related to affected surface area.

26. Introduce proper quality control procedures. Before collected data is entered into the database, it should be checked for inconsistencies and processed to fit the database’s parameters. This is generally done in a separate database where data is entered and checked before being transferred to the main database.

In Azerbaijan, standards for data quality control and processing were introduced to avoid data errors from being transferred to the database.

2. Make the Database Easy to Use

The database needs to be properly structured, using appropriate software and local language interfaces to make it easily accessible by different levels so it may be used not only for the RAMS, but also for monitoring of road sector performance.

27. Apart from providing a system to manage the data for the RAMS, the road database also performs other functions such as providing data on specific roads and providing statistics on the road network as a whole. It contains a wealth of information for planning interventions and monitoring the road network’s performance.

28. To allow the database to provide these functions, it must be made easily accessible. This requires the database to be remotely accessible so that the data can be accessed (and checked) from different offices. This is preferable to sharing several copies of the database, where different copies may contain different data.

29. It also means that the database should be easy to use. This requires an easy web-based interface to search for data, but also a function to export data to commonly used software formats such as Excel or Access, allowing users to further process and analyze the data. Parallel systems may exist for the general public (with a more limited set of data) and for use by authorized government staff (with a more complete set of data).

30. Although not strictly necessary initially, in the long run the system may be further developed to also allow for remote entry of certain data types by local offices. Systems should also allow access to any maps, photographs, and video data included in the database. Moreover, the database should have a local language interface to allow users to easily access data they require.

In the Kyrgyz Republic, Excel was used as the basis for the initial road database. This included the complete road inventory, and road condition data for part of the network. A Russian language interface was developed to facilitate use by the Road Management Department.

31. Apart from making the database easy to access, the data needs to be well structured. This especially relates to the way that roads are divided into sections, and data is linked to these sections. This requires road sections small enough to accurately pinpoint problem areas, but not too small that the database becomes unwieldly due to the large amounts of data. The location of road sections should also be made easily identifiable, both using maps and GPS coordinates, but also by naming sections according to chainage and/or place names.

In Yunnan Province in the PRC, data is linked to road sections of 1 km in length, with the chainage of each section recorded in the database. This facilitates analysis by both a RAMS and a simple spreadsheet software.

32. The second element of structuring road sections is the proper use of road codes. Road codes are a series of numbers and letters that uniquely identify each road and, in some cases, even the road section or location. Letters are generally used to identify the type or administrative level of the road, followed by sequential numbering for the different roads of that type. In some cases, additional numbers or letters are included to identify the pr...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Figures and Table
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• What Is Road Asset Management?
• Best Practices
• Country Status Reports
• Footnotes
• Back Cover