Document Library

This report presents a practical framework for applying asset-management principles and practices to managing Interstate Highway System (IHS) investments. The IHS is a national asset; as a system it serves a very large share of the nation's highway transportation demand, disproportionate to the system's share of the nation's highway mileage. A major challenge in managing this asset lies in developing usable management principles and strategies that can be accepted and applied by the varied government agencies that share responsibility for the IHS. These principles and strategies draw on the growing body of experience in transportation asset management, but are intended to respond to the unique challenge of the IHS. The report describes the scope of the challenge and presents specific asset-management practices that may be adapted to IHS management. This work will be useful to state government officials and others responsible for preparing, administering, and executing management plans for highway networks that include elements on the IHS and other systems of national significance.

The Wellington City Council's 2009 Transport Asset Management Plan Summary includes sections on levels of service, future demand, lifecycle management, a financial summary, asset management practices, and plan improvement and monitoring. The document provides additional notes for the sections and subsections, including a description of the topics covered, the scope of the topic, and information needed to complete the section.

Case study: Chicago Transit Authority Asset Inventory Structure

This document describes the process by which a decision-making tool was created for use in network-level railway track management scenarios.

For the New Jersey DOT, a culvert information management system was developed. This document details its development and its purposes.

This report contains methods for integrating environmental considerations into pavement and asset management for sustainability.

Data on distress levels within Ontario, Canada's road network, and suggested guidelines for condition improvement.

A project to integrate socioeconomic influences into the development of a framework for the management of rural roads in developing countries.

A case study that compares various methods for evaluating pavement interventions.

This 2009 Austroads report details an approach to understanding and evaluating the impacts of changes in vehicle fleet usage of road pavement. The report evaluates the physical and economic effects of increased traffic of high productivity vehicles (HPV), and provides information on analytical tools and modeling of changing fleet usage scenarios.

Drivers can experience different centerline levels of retroreflectivity in each travel direction. Paint pavement marking retroreflectivity in one direction may meet minimum requirements, while it does not in the other direction. This paper investigates the retroreflectivity directionality property of paint pavement markings to find the relationship between retroreflectivity values and the paint installation direction, to quantify these differences and to determine whether retroreflectivity directionality could have an impact on paint markings meeting the pending Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) minimum retroreflectivity levels. Data on yellow centerline retroreflectivity for two-lane highways were collected, taking measurements in two directions. A paired t test on the data shows that there are statistically significant differences. A field study investigated the relationship between the direction the marking is painted and the retroreflectivity direction. Results show that paint centerline retroreflectivity values measured in the direction of paint striping are significantly higher than values measured in the opposite direction. Findings indicate that the lower retroreflectivity values of yellow centerlines (measured in the opposite direction from paint striping) should be used when determining if it meets the newly proposed FHWA minimum standard because the drivers in that direction experience lower marking retroreflectivity at night.

In response to minimum retroreflectivity standards, transportation departments are implementing sign asset management strategies, which rely upon knowledge of how retroreflectivity decreases as signs weather and age. To provide this knowledge, the writers field measured over 1,000 in-service signs in scattered NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) divisions, collecting age and retroreflectivity data for white, yellow, red, and green signs and for ASTM sheeting Types I and III. Data from this study and data from five similar U.S. efforts were analyzed using regression to identify the best available deterioration rate estimates, finding that retroreflectivity minimums are usually reached eight to 15 years after installation. Initial results indicated that the best-fitting relationships between retroreflectivity and age were generally linear and that these models were significant despite having low R2 values. Because age did not explain some of the variance, the writers reevaluated their data including NCDOT divisions as a factor, finding that sign deterioration differed significantly by division, indicating that handling practices, manufacturing differences, and environmental exposure may be key deterioration model factors that merit future study.