If I may, perhaps other dimensions to this question might be:
a. How to,
b. Where,
c. To whom,
d. About what,
e. Why, and,
f. What happens next?
I recall a P.E., Ph.D., with a great reputation who invested a significant part of his career investigating a serious
public health issue in the general Wash., DC, region in the recent past. When the university he worked at learned of his report, they berated him due to their concerns that
"Perhaps now the Feds and State governments will not be so generous with their research funding grants."
Some years ago I recall other P.E.s who followed professional protocols, and reported eventually to legitimate authorities only to be terminated, and never again hired by other engineering firms nor public agencies.
Then, we have the
"ASCE Report Cards."
And there are some who would label this 'conversation'
"Biting the hands that feed you."
I recognize that this chat has just begun.
Thank you for reading and considering my thoughts and opinions.
Cheers.
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William Hayden Ph.D., P.E., CP, F.ASCE
Management Quality By Design, Inc.
Amherst NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-22-2017 08:49
From: Nathan Kebede
Subject: When to Intervene?
Most of us know the concepts of asset management and maintenance but I notice that public works professionals at all levels (from municipalities to DOT) have a hard time communicating and convincing decision makers (politicians) and citizens regarding the need to maintain our existing assets. In recent years, asset management systems are growing in popularity and many agencies are adopting them. While these systems have the capability of performing budget and condition needs predictions to help plan for the future, I think their best feature is that they make it very easy to record construction, maintenance, and condition data for all assets. Over time, the data that is recorded by these systems can be used to make a very convincing argument as to the need for more resources for maintenance. This data can help tie dollar amounts to expected performance.
The only way to convince decision makers to take action is if there is actionable data to back up the claim. For a long time, many agencies, especially municipal agencies, have not had the historical maintenance and condition data of assets to paint the data-driven story of their deterioration. With the proliferation of simple and powerful asset management systems, I think we just might be at a time where past trends are about to start to change.
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Nathan Kebede P.E., M.ASCE
Pavement Engineer
Chicago IL
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2017 16:04
From: Samuel Labi
Subject: When to Intervene?
After construction, the physical and operational performance of highway infrastructure system progressively deteriorates under the effects of loading, climatic severity, and demand increase. With regard to physical performance, pavements develop potholes, ruts, and cracks and become rougher, bridges suffer corrosion, delamination, and spalling, road signs lose their retro-reflectivity, and so on. With regard to operational performance, traffic congestion and crashes increases as traffic volume grows. The interesting question then is: at which point must the agency intervene? At which point to carry out rehabilitation, reconstruction, widening, provision of some safety countermeasures, implementation of congestion mitigation strategies, and so on. At most agencies, expert opinion has served such planning decision situations for several decades. In certain cases, such opinions have evolved into rules of thumb that may have been documented in guides or manuals. As more data become available on system costs and performance, it has become more feasible to address the issue from an analytical perspective. Is it worth migrating to that mechanism of decision making, or do the rules of thumb suffice? Or will business as usual suffice instead of expert opinion or analytically-driven solutions? How do each of these three decision compare with each other? Are the comparison trends different for different asset types (pavements and bridges) and operational considerations (safety and congestion)? The question of right timing of investment actions is one that is expected to generate significant interest and discussion.
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Samuel Labi Ph.D., M.ASCE
Associate Professor
Purdue University
W Lafayette IN
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