In a well-attended Central London evening lecture at Savoy Place on 13-Jan-2016, we were well informed by not one, not two, but six speakers, each covering their specific part, followed by a lively Q&A panel session. After a clear introduction to the concepts and standards by CH2M, we heard from TEAM 2100 (Thames Estuary Asset Management) followed by Highways England.
The scale of the challenge is awesome, not least owing to the sheer number of assets in their portfolios. Consider: 21900 miles of road, 18500 bridges and 21000 miles of drains or thousands of sluice gates, weirs and one (rather impressive) Thames Barrier, to mention but a few. The cost of maintaining all these assets has to be weighed against the risks and the consequences of failure; imagine London being flooded with electricity substations out of action, or a major road bridge closed.
A recommended quality framework for asset management is BS ISO 55000, with three parts: 00 Overview; 01 Requirements; 02 Guidance. This outlines a fairly standard cycle of plan, do, check and act, from organisation to improvement.
Even if not mandated or strictly followed, it provides a robust basis for an effective and measurable system from which performance can be seen; it shows good governance and that the programme is worth funding. Luckily, it is scalable down for much smaller applications.
A key point was that Asset Optimisation leads to good data from which to make good decisions.
As there are always many uncertainties, any such project needs to be adaptive and challenge assumptions. With better (remote) condition monitoring, it is possible to be proactive by investing before an asset becomes a high risk.
Alongside, we should get: Innovation; Return on Investment; culture change; quantifiable improvements; knowledge transfer (maybe even be able to teach something to the Dutch!).
For a copy of the presentation, follow this link to the IET London Community.
Thank you very much to our speakers:
- Rosemary Redmond (Environment Agency)
- Jason Glasson, Adrian Hull (Highways England)
- John Turpin, Ed Morris, Paul Gibbons (CH2M)
and to:
- Dimitris Loumanis, Chairman of IET London Central Area: For organising and hosting the event
- Dr. Peter Bonfield, IET Trustee: For his perspicacious summing up and vote of thanks.