Previous page: Effective asset life-cycle management
Acknowledging that these principles would require significantly higher levels of management efficiency, the project team devised a multi-step system for achieving it. Called the Infrastructure Management Maturity Model (IM3), the system measures organizational capability against industry best practices.
The objective is to institutionalize a culture of continuous improvement and ultimately lead to legislated least overall life-cycle costing. IM3 defines the procedures required to quantify performance, then uses this information to improve management decisions.
Looking beyond transportation to planning and practices employed in other industries, the project team took special note of the methods used by forestry experts, long recognized as leaders in sustainability management.
Of particular interest was the spatial-planning software used to build long-term models for managing forest lands. These models take into account complex factors such as habitat, biodiversity and watershed management.
Studying this software, the team gained insight into the intricacies of model building, asset dynamics, establishing objectives, and factoring in constraints. They learned what has long been known in the forestry industry: With multiple factors to consider in allocating resources, the only way to achieve true optimization is through mathematics.
They began to explore the differences between two main modes of planning: simulation and optimization. They quickly realized that simulation methods - using information systems, knowledge and experience to automate the planning process - were simply automating worst-first prioritization of asset treatment.
While simulation models serve a valuable purpose in operational planning, they are not sufficient for strategic-level planning that must take into account multiple treatment options and tradeoffs across various types of assets.
Optimization, by contrast, can enable holistic viewing of the entire planning horizon and consider what might be best for the asset network's greater long-term sustainability.
Applying techniques initially developed to model forest lands, NBT implemented a software-based system that considers transportation factors such as deterioration curves and budget constraints, and is able to optimally manage the life-cycles of civil infrastructure assets.
Because it is designed to account for long-term sustainability, rather than a single point in time, it is especially adept at dealing with age-class distribution, a significant hurdle in the strategic planning of civil infrastructure. Age-class distribution is a period-in-time snapshot of various assets at different ages.
Periods of significant asset expansion or fiscal restraint are challenging to manage as they represent significant fluctuations in future preservation and maintenance funding. Their effective management, however, can make the difference between an increased infrastructure deficit and having no deficit at all.
Optimized planning addresses this age-distribution challenge by generating possible alternatives and automatically conducting trade-offs among asset groups.
Overall, best-case scenarios ideally distribute funding in a manner that eases the severity of the peaks and valleys. Planners are therefore able to determine stable funding measures.
For NBT, such mapping promises a transformation of operations, one that will enable department officials to put in place feasible one-year and four-year action plans, which in turn will contribute to a sustainable, strategic 40-year plan that New Brunswick can build on.
Kim Mathisen is assistant director (GIS), information management and technology, with New Brunswick Transportation; Mark Gallagher is senior business consultant, civil infrastructure; and Michelle Dunphy is consultant and business analyst at Xwave Inc.
Related content:
Transport Canada takes flight with lifecycle management
Shared services cut costs, survey finds
Question and Answer with Chris Moore
B.C. Government inks outsourcing deal with IBM Canada
Major change under way in federal IT apparatus
icon.
