El surgimiento de un neo-funcionalismo suramericano

In order to understand the maintenance needs of pavement properly, as much knowledge of the pavement’s data details as possible is required, where data should be accurate and reliable. However, in general, many of the local authorities may have reliable existing records, and although some of the existing records might have been accurate at the time of the assessment of the pavement, important changes in data might not have been recorded, where the maintenance works take long time to proceed.

Data records play an important role in pavement maintenance management because they provide relevant and significant information about road and pavement conditions. Essentially, data records not only inform the public about the government and local authorities’ projects and initiatives to maintain roads, but also help authorities identify problem areas that necessitate immediate attention. With limited data, local authorities would be unable to arrive at correct and expected outcomes, as well as comply with standards of asset management (Aggregate Industries Ltd., 2015).

Asset management provides relevant data that guides pavement maintenance management. Asset profiles, for instance, help the government and local authorities optimise expenditure. Profile types may include the condition of assets, expenditure per assets, information about past defects and emergency repairs, history of claims, and results of inspection. Asset condition is derived from data within the Pavement Management System (PMS) as well as from the Highway Management System (HMS), results of surveys, inspections, and customer reports. Management information systems, on the other hand, provide information about expenditures per asset and reported defects and emergency repairs in the past (Leicestershire City Council, 2004).

The government has adopted the Building Information Modelling (BIM) as part of its initiative to establish standards in construction and maintenance until 2016. The BIM mandates the government and local authorities’ partners, particularly those in the supply chain, to collaborate and provide significant and relevant information about construction and maintenance procedures (Aggregate Industries Ltd., 2015).

Through the BIM, local authorities may utilise a laying technology that improves existing and upcoming records. “The main driver for this development was to reduce the number of personnel in the immediate working area to improve safety and to provide real time information to operatives to improve the quality of the newly laid pavement” (Aggregate Industries Ltd., 2015). At present time, BIM allows the Highways Agency to gather the following types of data:

• Condition • Date Laid • Layer • Material • Notes • Pavement Class • Thickness (Aggregate Industries Ltd., 2015)

Shaaban and Nadeem (2015) conducted a study on professionals’ perception towards using BIM in the highway and infrastructure projects. The perceived benefits of BIM for civil engineers on the highway and infrastructure projects include but are not limited to easily predict the performance of projects before they are built; respond to design changes faster; optimise designs with analysis, simulation and visualisation; and deliver higher quality construction documentation (Shaaban and Nadeem, 2015).

Shaaban and Nadeem (2015) identified visualisation as the top benefit of using BIM in highway and infrastructure projects followed by better communication between different disciplines, cost reduction, time saving, and sustainable design. The top challenge facing the implementation of BIM on highway projects was the resistance of practitioners to change their current practice. Other challenges reported by professionals included the need for additional investment in the software and hardware and the lack of the technical support (Shaaban and Nadeem, 2015).

However, it seems that there is a great future for BIM and once implemented on some of the highway projects in the future, it would be beneficial to evaluate the actual benefits and challenges.

Transport Scotland (2012) has provided data regarding pavement roadworks and travel delay costs. Based on Transport Scotland’s report, pavement maintenance incurs costs as well as delays on the road. Transport Scotland obtained scheme data, which is an estimation of the area of work for different types of treatment during the past decade. Treatment types that were assessed include reconstruction, strengthening, and surface treatment. Based on the data obtained, surface treatment and reconstruction are the most common treatments applied in pavement maintenance operations. Furthermore, an increase in budget for maintenance also increases the number of maintenance operations. If budget decreases, there would also be a reduction in the number of maintenance operations, and, therefore, disruptions throughout all road networks (Transport Scotland, 2012).

UK Road Liaison Group (2005) identifies the purpose of data and information as tools to support the various functions of pavement management. These functions include inspection, assessment, planning, maintenance and repairs. The Code though distinguishes essential data and information records as those required to permit the local road authorities to carry out their statutory obligations under the Highways Act 1980, such as to protect the road network users and safeguard the authorities against legal action resulting from unsatisfactory management.

The foregoing discussion illustrates the existing data available online. Pavement data records are available via the official website but it cannot be accessed. Although the discussion does not explicitly show data, it reflects the types of data that are needed in decision making as well as some information about pavement maintenance. Furthermore, this section illustrates the important aspects of data that must be collated or obtained to guide decision making when it comes to pavement maintenance and management.