What is Asset Management?

"Asset management may be defined as a comprehensive and structured approach to the long term management of assets as tools for the efficient and effective delivery of community benefits. The emphasis is on the assets being a means to an end, not an end in themselves." (Austroads 1997 Strategy for Improving asset management practice, p4).

The World Road Association (PIARC) has adopted an OECD definition of asset management, which in turn was derived from a FHWA definition, viz:

"A systematic process of effectively maintaining, upgrading and operating assets, combining engineering principles with sound business practice and economic rationale, and providing the tools to facilitate a more organised and flexible approach to making decisions necessary to achieve the public's expectations."

In the light of these broad definitions, road asset management means managing a road network (roads, bridges, traffic facilities, etc) to satisfy the requirements of business and private road users, at the lowest possible cost over a long period of time.

The main streams in asset management are:

• identification of need for the asset, in the light of community requirements
  
• provision of the asset, including its ongoing maintenance and rehabilitation to suit continuing needs
  
• operation of the asset
  
• disposal of the asset when the need no longer exists or it is no longer appropriate for the asset to be retained.

Asset management comprises the elements shown in the Austroads diamond in Figure 1, all focused on facilitating the delivery of community benefits such  as accessibility, mobility, economic development and social justice.