Asset Management Strategy for Unsealed Low-Volume Roads in New Zealand

Abstract

The majority of rural local roads in New Zealand are unsealed low-volume roads that require regular grading, and a contractor has developed an asset management strategy for unsealed roads. Key facets of this strategy included establishment of a companywide asset management team responsible for implementing the strategy, creation of a new senior management position dedicated to delivering this strategy, and integration of asset management principles and processes into normal business. This unsealed roads maintenance strategy identified the need for a low-cost, effective tool for roughness monitoring that quantitatively reflects the unsealed network condition and is not based on subjective perception, which is the current situation. After a review of all existing roughness measurement systems from around the world, the Opti-Grade system from Canada was acquired and is being used on unsealed road networks throughout New Zealand. An example of the benefits of outsourcing road maintenance to private contractors is the fact that it was the contractor that identified the need for a low-cost roughness measurement tool to provide an objective operational performance indicator for rural local roads, initiated the development described in this paper, and implemented its use. This paper explains the processes involved in developing and implementing this strategy and the benefits to both the road authority and the company.