new report urges merits of public infrastructure asset management

In an era when the amount of public spending on infrastructure nationally has declined, a new report is indicating that all levels of government, in response, have been trying to husband resources as best they can to maintain and upgrade roads, bridges, and water systems.

The report, Changing the Infrastructure Equation: Using Asset Management to Optimize Investments, has just been issued by the Washington-based American Society of Civil Engineers, and suggests a different approach to ongoing infrastructure challenges.

The American Society of Civil Engineers made national headlines in early 2017 when it issued a comprehensive and damning report looking at the condition of the nation’s infrastructure, giving it an overall D plus grade.

That report has since been repeatedly cited by lawmakers, policy analysts, and lobbyists arguing for more federal infrastructure spending.

Discussing the group’s new report, Tom Smith, executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said “If we are to move the needle on our nation’s aging infrastructure, which sits at a D+, and make it fit for the 21st century, we need to start investing, better and smarter.”

Discussing the group’s new report, Tom Smith, executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said “If we are to move the needle on our nation’s aging infrastructure, which sits at a D+, and make it fit for the 21st century, we need to start investing, better and smarter.”

In a statement, Smith continued: “Asset management has been around for decades, but new technologies, as well as more holistic cross-sector implementation, are helping cities and states optimize investments.”

Noting that overall spending on public infrastructure declined in the last decade and a half by 8 percent, with projections that funding will be off by more than $2 trillion by 2025, the report notes that in lieu of full funding, asset management may be the only viable infrastructure challenge solution.

“Asset management is the practice of managing infrastructure capital assets to minimize the total cost of owning and operating them, while delivering the service levels customers desire,” says the report.

Crucial to any asset management effort, the report continues, is the “creation of a comprehensive infrastructure inventory, which in turn guides strategic investment decisions. By building and updating this inventory, policymakers and asset owners can better prioritize essential repairs and replacement projects, and plan a long-term capital budget.”

The report recommends that local government create infrastructure commissions to “oversee the consolidation of their infrastructure data across asset classes,” while additionally setting up grant and low-interest loan programs to help in those efforts.
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“Using credible, centralized data, we can pinpoint maintenance needs for our aging infrastructure and get the biggest bang for our buck,” Smith continued in his statement.

​By Garry Boulard

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