Asset Inspections Are Optimal Tool For Maintenance And Capital Improvement

By Michael Garcia, PSM, Program Manager II , Seminole County Public Works and Chandra Greiner, CPM, Consultant, LA Consulting

Infrastructure asset inspection process is a tool that identifies deficiencies, creates backlog, establishes proactive maintenance, and monitors life cycles; as well as assists agencies in identifying projects for their Capital Improvement Program (CIP). These inspections can provide both a short-term benefit through work identification for repair and maintenance efforts and a long-term benefit of project identification of new capital improvements and enhancement.

Quantifying the work load can be used to project resources (labor, equipment, materials, and contract requirements), thereby assisting in scheduling, planning, and identifying budgetary needs.  For many public works agencies, the approach is normally either one focus or the other — short-term or long-term benefits. 

What if the methods were married to create an optimal maintenance program that addressed both?  That was the goal for Seminole County Public Works, Roads-Stormwater and Engineering Divisions in Florida.  This process of developing an optimal asset inspection program was most challenging, but for those in Seminole County now assigned the responsibility for maintaining the complete life cycle of infrastructure assets, this effort now allows for successful, open, and sustainable methodology to manage assets in both short and long term. The article outlines how this was achieved in one Florida County.