Posts Tagged ‘asset management’

OPWA – National Public Works Week (NPWW)

National Public Works Week (May 16-22, 2010) is a celebration of the tens of thousands of men and women in North America who provide and maintain the infrastructure and services collectively known as public works.  The OPWA Kick-off Event and Pioneers Luncheon (Thursday, May 13th) featured 7 excellent speakers discussing public works infrastructure/asset management current status, issues and several important future challenges.       

Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, Allan Magi, Andrew Pollock and Mike Price discuss “Challenges for the Next Decade”.

 Wally Wells, P.Eng., Wells Infrastructure Group Inc. (“Asset Management BC”) outlined the status of the Local Government Asset Management Working Group (LGAMWG).  The group has finalized their terms of reference, vision, mission and objectives.  The ‘way forward’ for the group will be:       

• PSAB 3150 follow-up (i.e. condition assessment guidelines)
• Integration – focus on core strengths and deliverables
• Communication – get the message out and solicit input from stakeholders; educate public and politicians
• BC Knowledge Product – follow up actions
• Pilot projects – find practical asset management (AM) solutions
• Tools – create a ‘tool chest’ for sustainable AM
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Michael Mortimer, P.Eng., Program Manager, CSA Standards provided an update on CSA training and publications for buildings and municipal public works.  The Municipal Infrastructure Solutions Program (MSIP) focuses on delivering practical, pragmatic and proven tools and services in the form of new standards, best-practice guides, technologies and training offerings.
Currently there are 14 technical committees/working groups established to guide the development of additional courses and publications.  CSA would welcome additional knowledgeable participants on these advisory committees.
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An excellent round table discussion –“Challenges for the Next Decade”- featured Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, P.Eng., York Region (transportation), Allan Magi, P.Eng., City of Birlington (facilities), Andrew Pollock, Niagara Region (solid waste) and Mike Price, P.Eng., Mike Price& Associates Inc. (water/wastewater).
Some of the issues/challenges outlined included:    

Transportation
• Fiscal sustainability
• Accommodating urban growth
• Succession planning     

Facilities
• Performance measurement similar to linear assets needed
• Consistent condition assessment approach (i.e. facility condition index)
• Energy management
• Funding/inflation
• Multiple use facilities to address aging population and recent immigration patterns/interests   

The new MTO maintenance facility at Hwy 401/Hurontario was built with the latest green technologies. It will require consistent condition monitoring and assessment to ensure full service life.

  Waste Management
• Recycling – move to full producer responsibility (Waste Diversion Act/June 2010)
• Composting – 2nd generation plants, different/conflicting methods; biofuel
• Disposal – landfill capacity; district heating potential/projects (Durham); fuel production from waste    

Water/Wastewater
• Source Protection – world-wide and in Canada
• Future design/capacities of infrastructure – considering reductions in usage (i.e. condos)
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The keynote speaker Reg Andres, P.Eng., Vice President, R.V. Anderson Associates Limited presented ‘Sustainable Infrastructure Management – Where We Are & Where We Are Going”. 
His main message for OPWA members….asset management has come a long way; OPWA members need to lead the way into the future; continue to get the message out regarding infrastructure management, funding and sustainability.
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RoadMap:
• National (Canada) Asset Management
• Asset Management International – Dr. Penny Burns (Australia) 
CentreLine:   “An asset without a user is an asset without a value” 

By Graham Zeisner in Association, Buildings & Grounds, Fleet, Roads & Bridges, Sewer & Wastewater, Solid Waste Disposal/Recycling, Transportation, Water on May 19th, 2010 - No Comments »
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Canada’s Local Governments/Cities Legislation Is Antiquated

According to a recent study by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy Canadian municipal law is characterized by its prescriptive rules-based codes of compliance. That contrasts starkly with modern local government laws of other countries which seek to facilitate best-management practice by setting outcomes rather than rules. The approach of other countries leads to a performance and service-delivery framework designed to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of local taxpayers and residents.

All Canadians rely on a municipality of some kind to provide essential infrastructure, and unlike their dealings with private enterprises, which are disciplined by competition, they face a monopoly for the services that a municipality provides.

The study – Creating proper incentives for Canada’s cities through smart provincial legislation: A best-practice model of local government – compares municipal law in New Zealand with equivalent law in Canada. The New Zealand Act provides for the following:

  • It sets local government outcomes that can be achieved within practically based best-practice management processes;
  • These include asset and financial long-term planning, consultative process and democratic decision-making

Recommendations and likely results:

  • Canada should adopt much of New Zealand’s local government legislation.
  • Federal support for local provincial government law reform could be an impetus for change for the provinces. This might take the form of linking federal infrastructure funding to the required improvements in law.

This adoption would have the following results:

  • It would improve local government performance. There is no argument that improvements are necessary, as Canadian municipalities score poorly when measured on a number of international performance scales.
  • The national economy would benefit directly from local government law reform. Much of the economy’s vital arterial economic lines of production and supply, the nation’s roads and the water and waste-water systems, are owned and managed by the municipalities.

RoadMap:  View entire report as .pdf – 57 pages

Ontario Municipalities have reported on their tangible capital assets and move from a modified accrual format to full accrual accounting with new financial statements since 2009.  The Municipal Finance Officers’ Association (MFOA) and the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario (AMCTO), have forged a strategic partnership to provide ongoing information and education to assist municipal staff who will have to deal with the changes. The PSAB/Asset Management web site is designed to be a resource and information-sharing centre.ongoing information and education to assist municipal staff who will have to deal with the changes.

CentreLine:  Infrastructure assets can be properly maintained and monitored if  the legal framework of municipal operations is specifically designed to mandate best-practice asset management as measured by performance-based systems.

By Graham Zeisner in Association, Municipal Elected Officials, Roads & Bridges, Sewer & Wastewater, Solid Waste Disposal/Recycling, Transportation on February 3rd, 2010 - No Comments »
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Associations Promote Infrastructure Asset Management

Hwy 417

Hwy 417 - concrete surface, surface treated shoulders, rumble edge strip

The Association of Ontario Road Supervisors (AORS) strongly supports the concept of pavement/asset management in their training programs, workshops and seminars.  The Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) has developed a standard on-line platforms (MDW) for Municipal asset management as well as related training webinars.  The Ontario Public Works Association (OPWA) has  developed  action plans to engage key ministries on infrastructure practices and policies on behalf of their members. 

  ”Asset management is a comprehensive business strategy employing people, information and technology to effectively and efficiently allocate available funds amongst valid and competing asset needs”-  Transportation Association of Canada (TAC; 1999).

 So, the Public Works Associations in Ontario are continuing to provide a solid ongoing framework for Municipal core civil asset management in Ontario. This is an important benefit to our members because there has been a significant decline in the ownership of infrastructure capital by the federal and provincial governments relative to the municipal level.  In Ontario, 67% of government-owned capital assets in 2005 belonged to municipalities, compared to 38% in 1961.

It is encouraging to see that large Associations representing private sector civil construction companies are undertaking their own independent studies promoting sensible, sustainable infrastructure funding in Ontario. The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) asserted  in a recently commissioned a report, ‘Benchmarking Infrastructure Funding in Ontario: Towards Sustainable Policies’ that “the establishment of a coherent strategy for infrastructure asset management with clear responsibility lines is one of the most crucial actions to sustain Ontario’s prosperity and lead its economy into the 21st century”.  

The RCCAO also call for reform to the Provincial and Federal Environmental Assessment (EA) process and recommend specific actions to address EA process inefficiencies in their white paper – ‘Environmental Assessment Reform – A Tool for Economic Recovery’ – released on February 20th.

By Graham Zeisner in Roads & Bridges on February 21st, 2009 - No Comments »
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Divergent Opinions on Infrastructure Stimulus Programs

Hot mix paving crew

Hot mix paving crew

As someone who has been involved in Public Works and road infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance since 1972 I am intrigued by the recent interest in public core civil infrastructure.  We have generally taken for granted that these significant assets will always be well constructed, maintained and monitored to sustain the quality of life that we enjoy as Ontario residents.

Stimulus packages for infrastructure – the size of which we may never see again in our lifetimes – were created by many governments as a counter measure to the current world economic crisis. There are many divergent views about whether the stimulus dollars will have the desired economic (i.e. creating jobs) and asset management (infrastructure renewal) benefits. 

Tom O’Callaghan, newly elected president of the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA) stated in a recent speech that his association has worked for the past decade to get infrastructure on the political radar and move it up the list of priorities. “Today, infrastructure is number one in the public mind and on the political agenda,” he said. “You could almost look at it as a ‘perfect storm.’  

Todd Latham (Publisher,Renew Canada) and Chantal Guay (President, Engineers Canada) sat down with CBC News (Harry Forestell) to talk about infrastructure and asset management.  Their respective organizations agree that the infrastructure stimulus package is timely and appropriate for job creation however they also advise that a comprehensive asset management program including rehabilitation and maintenance is essential to maximize the economic value of the funding.

Some transportation and engineering experts like Niels Veldhuis of the Fraser Institute  agree that Canadian infrastructure is in a very dismal state but the risk of implementing the Building Canada Plan too rapidly (e.g. Accelerating Infrasture: Speeding up Project Funding) is that the projects that deliver the highest rate of economic recovery won’t get done and therefore the plan will be counterproductive (i.e. an ensuing drain on the economy.).

A very interesting article in the Ottawa Citizen on this topic.

By Graham Zeisner in Roads & Bridges on February 20th, 2009 - No Comments »
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Road Preservation Discussed at Lanark County Road Supervisors Meeting

lanark1feb-2009On Thursday, February 12th the Lanark County Road Supervisors Association hosted their first meeting of 2009.  There were two excellent presentations included in the business agenda including:

  • a) Presentation by Kent Plummer, President, Greenwood Paving

 ”Entac- A Green Solution for Granular Sealing, Dust Control, Surface Stabilization”

“Road Infrastructure Management – A Sound Investment Strategy to Maximize your Rehabilitation Dollars.”

During his presentation Steve Goodman stated that “if you optimize your rehabilitation and preventative maintenance strategies (i.e. if you have an effective pavement preservation strategy) a road will last forever”.  This advice has a lot of validity not only here in Ontario but in the United States as well. 

For example, in the past the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) position was that only construction and re-construction projects would receive federal funding.  Now all Federal aid can now be applied for constructing, preserving and operating a safe and economical highway network.

Maintenance activities that address aging, oxidation, surface deterioration, and normal wear and tear from day-to-day performance and environmental conditions (e.g. crack sealing, ultra-thin hot mix asphalt pavements, slurry seals, chip seals) are eligible for federal aid, particularly some of the recently approved economic stimulus funding.  Many of the lessons learned around roadway asset preservation and economic decision making were through studies conducted under the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) – now SHRP 2 – and C-SHRP (Canada) of the Transportation Research Board.

For a clear explanation of pavement maintenance terminology I think this is the best:

In the United States one of the most effective advocates for promoting the concepts of road asset management is the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP). Their website can be found here…. or click on the link below. 

The Ontario Hot Mix Producers Association (OHPA) also has some informative publications on their website.

By Graham Zeisner in Roads & Bridges on February 16th, 2009 - No Comments »
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