Tactical Asset Management Plans for Linear Assets: Fid-Bau Portal

Tactical Asset Management Plans for Linear Assets

Shelton, Rebecca / Sheets, Steven

Most people give little consideration to the upkeep of a pipe network once it is put into place. After all, operation and maintenance should be regimented, straightforward, and based on common sense. Do we really need a management plan for common sense? Well, the answer is yes. In fact, you need a good one. The durability and longevity of the piped assets, coupled with their "out-of-sight" nature, leads many to forget their importance until a rupture occurs or a road has to be closed. When pumps and motors fail after only a few years and require constant service, it is easy to see how a pipe asset that measures service in decades can be overlooked. However, when Gwinnett County began looking at its pipes, we found that the operation and maintenance of these critical assets was not so easily defined nor were many of the assets as durable as we had originally thought. Gravity systems are not always self-cleaning, and pressurized pipes do not always work efficiently just because we tend to the pumps. The pipe networks in our system have a value equivalent to the vertical assets, and, though they should survive multiple replacements of those mechanical components, they cannot be overlooked either financially or operationally.