Final Scope

Some states have started tracking some ancillary assets (e.g., assets other than pavement and bridges) in their Transportation Asset Management Plans (TAMPs), but most have not, even though they inventory and manage many of these ancillary assets. There is a growing interest to create and maintain dynamic inventories of ancillary assets that provide centralized access to accurate and current ancillary asset information. Maintaining a dynamic inventory of current asset information is a cross-functional initiative. There are challenges for funding such cross-functional initiatives (e.g., statewide mobile LIDAR data collection and asset extraction) and also for stewarding the data. The data owner often has little control over the data lifecycle. For example, capturing relevant information about construction activities is often the work task of an inspector, who may not have a vested interest in the data being collected. Stewardship of the data is critical to data quality but is often disconnected from asset stewardship. 

The Federal Highway Administration is currently deploying Digital As-Builts through its Every Day Counts Round 6 (EDC-6) initiative. Many agencies interested in implementing Digital As-Builts recognize that the as-built data primarily serves post-construction uses. As such, they need to locate the asset data stewards and access the data models before they can implement digital as-built collection. Information on programmed and completed work against an asset may also have value for project planning purposes. Agencies also recognize that the majority of asset inventory information is created in design and should only need to be verified or updated in construction. Consequently, some agencies are harnessing technology to automate the creation of asset inventory information and are developing solutions to extract the information for use/update in construction and delivery to the asset data steward. Updates of ancillary asset data, including inventory and condition, is also used to make programmatic decisions.

 The objective of this synthesis is to document state DOT practices related to data models and data stewardship of ancillary assets.

Information to be gathered includes (but is not limited to):

·         Which classes/types of ancillary assets state DOTs are collecting;

·         Responsibilities for data collection and stewardship;

·         Which assets are collected, inspected, and/or condition-rated, and on what frequency;

·         How and when ancillary asset data is being used;

·         What type of software is being used to manage assets for:

o  Design and construction;

o   Asset management; and,

o   Maintenance management.

·         Whether asset data includes a geospatial and/or linear-referencing component;

·         Incorporation of asset data in federal and/or state TAMPs;

·         Quality control and confidence level requirements;

·         The asset data lifecycle management process (e.g., collection, maintenance, update, refresh cycle);

·         Challenges/limitations with data collection and/or technical issues in asset management;

·         Asset data models and/or data dictionaries being used; and,

·         Funding for cross-functional asset data collection and data stewardship initiatives.

 Information will be gathered through a literature review, a survey of state DOTs, and follow-up interviews with selected agencies for the development of case examples. Information gaps and suggestions for research to address those gaps will be identified.

Information Sources (Partial):

·         NCHRP 08-115 Guidebook for Data and Information Systems for Transportation Asset Management (approaching completion)    https://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4362

·         Identifying Data Frameworks and Governance for Civil Integrated Management (approaching completion)

·         Guide to Life-Cycle Data and Information Sharing Workflows for Transportation Assets https://intrans.iastate.edu/research/completed/guide-to-life-cycle-data-and-   information-sharing-workflow-for-transportation-assets/

·         UDOT Model Development Standards Manual (Draft), Utah DOT. https://drive.google.com/file/d/105yj-z-B-33bznbS1ag0FSktg6_-eUpK/view

·         MnDOT As-built specification https://www.dot.state.mn.us/gisspec/index.html

TRB Staff
Edward Harrigan
Phone: 540-454-2149
Email: eharrigan@nas.edu

Meeting Dates
First Panel: September 19, 2022, Virtual meeting
Teleconference with Consultant: October 24, 2022
Second Panel: August 30, 2023

Topic Panel

Rebecca Hjelm, Utah Department of Transportation
Samantha Langeleh, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Michelle O'Neill, Michigan Department of Transportation
William Pratt, Connecticut Department of Transportation
Bryan Signorelli, Arkansas Department of Transportation

Heng Wei, University of Cincinnati
Hebbani Lokesh, Federal Highway Administration