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1. ASSET MANAGEMENT
GEOTECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE
Prepared By
Hasib Ghouse
Lead Geotechnics
Parsons, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

2. Asset management is a process to maximize the value of the assets and make risk informed
decisions that align with the objectives and goals of the organization. Thus, through asset
management private and public organizations can demonstrate both financial stewardship to
investors or the enabling taxpayers and increase the likelihood services provided to customers and
users of the system are acceptable over time.
Asset management, when undertaken correctly, can be a powerful tool in the maintenance of
assets, and will produce long term solutions to the running and upkeep of the ageing infrastructure
networks. The key objectives of engineering asset management are to optimize the use and the
lifespan of the asset, improve reliability, availability and safety, across a range of interdependent
asset types.
As all infrastructure assets are founded directly or indirectly on geotechnical assets, effective
implementation of geotechnical asset management is therefore crucial to the overall infrastructure
management plan; implementation of geotechnical asset management includes asset inspection,
asset data collection and recording on a central GIS based database, development of asset
management plans, options feasibility analysis, developing prioritized forward works program
along with design and delivery of geotechnical solutions.
Legislative authorization or regulations do not need to be the primary initiator of asset management
as evidenced by the British Standards Institute (BSI) work on standardization of asset
management, which was first published in 2004 with more than 50 public and private entities
spanning 10 countries and 15 sectors contributing to development (BSI, 2008). The BSI work was
later adopted and superseded by the International Standards Organization (ISO), leading to the
current ISO 55000 series on asset management.
According to the Federal Highway Administration (2018), “transportation asset management plans
are an essential management tool which bring together all related business processes and
stakeholders, internal and external, to achieve a common understanding and commitment to
improve performance.” The current obligatory requirements of Federal highway authorization
require the continued management of bridge and pavement assets and encourage inclusion of other
assets into asset management plans. One such asset class that can be considered are geotechnical
assets.

3. Geotechnical asset are the retaining walls, embankments, slopes, and constructed subgrades within
a transportation system right-of-way (ROW) or easement. Like other asset categories,
geotechnical assets are features that are designed, constructed, and maintained by a transportation
agency and their performance – good or poor – contributes to the continuous operation of a
transportation network. Geotechnical assets are also subject to deterioration and exposed to
natural hazards similar to other assets. Examples of geotechnical assets include the retaining walls,
embankments, slopes, or constructed subgrades that contribute to the performance of a
transportation system and are located within the right-of-way or boundary. Geotechnical assets
also contribute to the performance of the culverts, storm-water drainage systems, and utilities that
are often contained within the asset.
The widely differing nature of the asset types found on any given infrastructure network is vast
and complex. As such this research provides a focus on geotechnical assets integrated within
infrastructure networks especially on road networks. Understanding what constitutes a
geotechnical asset is fundamental to developing knowledge of the nature, interdependence and
criticality of the asset to the network as a whole. Bernhardt et al., (2003) defines a list of
geotechnical assets in which their function is ranked from exclusively geotechnical through to
minimally geotechnical
Classification of Geotechnical Assets
Asset Type Asset Function Purpose
Embankments & Slopes Exclusively Geotechnical To provide for Gradual Changes
in Vertical Alignment
Tunnels and Earth
Retaining Structures
Partially Geotechnical To retain earthen materials
Culverts and Drainage
Channels
Minimal Geotechnical To provide control of surface
waters
Foundations Exclusively Geotechnical To transmit structural loads to
supporting ground
Pavement Subgrade Partially Geotechnical To serve as foundation for
pavement

4. Asset management as an on-going process that relies on process improvements to direct
advancement where the greatest value can occur. When implementing asset management, each
organization can adapt the fundamental concepts to the needs and objectives of their agency.
Per the AASHTO Transportation Asset Management Guide: “There is no “one-size-fits-all” TAM
solution for an agency.” Thus, geotechnical asset management does not need to be funded as a
substantial new program, but rather can evolve to the needs and objectives of the organization.
When geotechnical assets are managed in a proactive, whole-life asset management approach,
there can be benefits that include life-cycle cost savings; the capability to measure, communicate
and manage risk; reduce operational disruptions; and fewer emergency stabilization projects that
draw from contingency budgets.

5. Benefits of adopting Geotechnical Asset Management
All Infrastructure assets are founded directly or indirectly on geotechnical assets and hence this
should not be ignored in the overall infrastructure asset management. Clayton (2000) highlights
that construction industry, itself, has a high risk potential and Chapter 2 – Literature Review 70 no
construction project is risk free, out of which ground related risks renders several ways of
undermining the integrity of any construction project.
Findings by Tyrell et al., (1983), from a study of ten UK highway projects, shows that the cost
overruns of those projects were just over 35% of which half were due to geotechnical problems
(Clayton, 2000). In 1996, Turner and Schuster reported that the cost of repair for minor ‘nuisance’
sliding failures in US would exceed that of the repair cost for more major landslides. Unlike other
construction materials that are man-made and hence easy to modify and control, dealing with
natural ground conditions and groundwater is very complicated due to its varying properties in
different regions and different depths (Clayton, 2000). Unfortunately, the predictability associated
to construction materials does not apply to engineering ground conditions.
A geotechnical asset management approach will aid the designers in prioritizing remediation of
geotechnical assets and will enable in undertaking a whole life cycle analysis of these geotechnical
assets which will determine the choice of treating recurrent geotechnical defects over conventional
one-off treatments, the overall costs in choosing alternative treatment methods over conventional
ones. Geotechnical assets play a significant role in the continual operation of the overall road
network. For example, there are several records of pavements which show early signs of failure
much before their expected design life which requires yearly re-surfacing to improve its condition.
This could be due to the lack of understanding of the underlying cause of failure, which could
potentially be geotechnical in nature. Designing yearly resurfacing treatment of the road pavement
is insufficient if the underlying subsurface layers are weak and deteriorating. Likewise remediating
a cracking carriageway signs of failure is ineffective if the supporting embankment has defects
and is consequently slipping away, thereby disintegrating the support system for the carriageway.
Hence, in order to effectively maintain and manage any asset on the road or rail infrastructure, it
is of paramount importance to maintain and manage geotechnical assets effectively.

6. Based on outcomes from successful programs in transportation and other infrastructure systems,
the benefits of performing asset management on walls, slopes, embankments, and subgrades can
be summarized as follows:
 Measure and manage safety risk exposure across the asset class and with a comparison to
other assets
 Lessens traveler delay and closure times
 Reduces adverse economic impacts to connected communities
 Optimize resources, improves sustainability, and reputations
 Enables data driven decisions that support agency and executive objectives
 Understand the risk exposure across objectives and the ability to manage those risks
Across assets types, asset management informs decisions throughout the life-cycle phases of
design, construction, operation and maintenance, and decommissioning. For this to occur, asset
management decisions will assess the following:
 total cost of the asset over the life, or life-cycle cost,
 risk across the life-cycle, and
 Financial and investment plans for multiple assets over a life-cycle.
To evaluate the life-cycle cost and risk from geotechnical assets and complete financial planning
steps, organizations will need to optimize treatments that should be performed on an asset
following initial construction. This optimization process should include the cost of each treatment,
the appropriate timing for treatment, and what effect treatment has on the condition of asset.
Basic treatments for geotechnical assets include:
 Do Minimum,
 Maintenance,
 Rehabilitation, and
 Renewal or Reconstruction.

7. Conclusion
Through geotechnical asset management, owners of geotechnical assets can make risk-informed
treatment plans for their assets that have the benefit of minimizing life-cycle costs and managing
risk to levels that are acceptable to the organization. As part of starting geotechnical asset
management in a resource limited organization, agencies are encouraged to use and adapt data
from existing inventories and begin with desktop approaches for an inexpensive inventory
development. When the examples of life-cycle and risk management improvements are
extrapolated, the benefits from geotechnical asset management can be measurable and substantial.
As there is a cost to delaying implementation, simply beginning asset management for a few
geotechnical assets can be beneficial and is recommended over postponing implementation
because of the absence of legislative or regulatory requirements.

8. REFERENCES
AASHTO. 2011. AASHTO Transportation Asset Management Guide: A Focus on Implementation. American
Association of Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C.
Anderson, S. A., V. R. Schaefer, and S. C. Nichols. 2016. In: Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting:
Compendium of Papers. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C.
British Standards Institution (BSI). (2008). PAS 55-1:2008: Asset Management, Part 1: Specification for the
Optimized Management of Physical Assets. BSI: London, England.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). 2018. Transportation Asset Management Plans. FHWA website:
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/plans.cfm (accessed January 15, 2018).