Asset Management Plan Bridges
Bridges This Supporting Section should be read in conjunction with Council’s Asset Management Plan, the Asset Management Policy (which sets out Council's philosophy of asset management) and Council’s Asset Management Strategy (which provides Council with a clear direction and goal for managing the community's $1.185 billion (as at June 2010) worth of assets).
1
Current Asset Base
The condition of Council’s bridge assets has been audited as part of the asset inspection regime, rated against the bridge asset condition reference sheet and captured in Council’s electronic mapping system. The condition of all Council’s assets is rated from excellent to very poor. The colours on the following map indicate the condition of the asset, as detailed in the below table. 1 2 3 4 5
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
Dark Green Green Yellow Orange Red
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Bridges The following tables indicate the condition of the bridge network from excellent to very poor across the Wagga Wagga Local Government Area (LGA) for each bridge type.
Brick and Steel Bridge
Reinforced Concrete and Steel Bridge
Reinforced Concrete Bridge
Timber and Reinforced Concrete Bridge
Timber Bridge
Bridges 0 0 1 0 0
Percent 0% 0% 100% 0% 0%
Bridges 1 11 3 0 0
Percent 1% 77% 22% 0% 0%
Area 46.3m2 2,827.4m2 791.7m2 0 0
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
Bridges 3 22 11 1 0
Percent 4% 70% 25% 1% 0%
Area 335.3m2 6,501.8m2 2,290.7m2 169.4m2 0
Percent 0% 24% 54% 22% 0%
Area
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
Bridges 0 2 3 2 0
Percent 0% 65% 0% 0% 35%
Area
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
Bridges 0 2 0 0 2
Area 0 0 225.4m2 0 0
0 95.5m2 213.4m2 85.3m2 0
0 173.3m2 0 0 95.1m2
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Bridges Bridge sized culverts
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
Bridges 4 65 45 11 1
Percent 3% 63% 28% 5% 1%
Area 774m2 11,181 m2 5,001 m2 850 m2 74 m2
Size of the Network The following table indicates how many bridges Council manages across the Wagga Wagga LGA. Bridge Type Brick and Steel Bridge Reinforced Concrete and Steel Bridge Reinforced Concrete Bridge Timber and Reinforced Concrete Bridge Timber Bridge Bridge sized culverts Total
Quantity 1 15 37 7 4 126 190
Length (m) 18 643 1177 99 63 N/A 1,999
Area (m2) 255 3,665 9,297 394 268 17,880 31,760
Challenges of the Network Similar to sealed and unsealed roads, the bridge network is spread across the entire Wagga Wagga LGA, with 72% being in the rural areas. The bridge network is ageing and this proposes management challenges in maintaining the structural integrity of the bridges and replacing the network. In the rural areas there is pressure for bridges to be wider to accommodate the increasing width of farm machinery. The size and geographic spread of the network makes the inspection regime costly and time consuming. Due to the age of the network the findings of the structural inspections are often costly and require significant design and construction work. Storm events typically present a significant challenge to bridges. They are generally located on waterways (creeks or rivers). When the water is flowing fast they may become a bottleneck for debris to become lodged. This limits the flow of water further creating more pressure on the bridge structure. By nature of their design, it is a challenge to perform maintenance and renewal activities on the underside of the bridge, to the piers and underside of the deck. Machinery must be either driven down the waterway bank to access the bridge or sit on the bridge and reach down. There are risks either way.
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Bridges 2
Condition Assessment
Condition Ratings Reference Sheet The condition of bridges is audited against a rating scale which ranges from excellent to very poor. This scale is used as the basis of all assessments of bridges by Council’s Surveillance Team. The rating scale forms the Condition Rating Reference Sheet below.
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Bridges Risk and Condition Ratings Indicators Council also uses Risk and Condition Rating Indicators to determine a prioritised works schedule for the maintenance, renewal and replacement of large asset categories. These indicators are used in addition to the Condition Ratings Reference Sheet to enable further analysis of the worst sections of the asset class. The Indicators are used to develop an overall Works Schedule Priority Rating for each individual asset or section of an asset. The first stage considers the risk the condition of the asset poses to the community based on road classification and estimated traffic volumes. The following table details the Risk Rating Indicators for the bridge network. Bridge Risk Rating Indicators- Based on Road Type Weighting 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0
Road Type/Traffic Volume Arterial Road or Highway Sub Arterial/Regional Road Collector/Distributor Road Residential Road/Rural Road
The second stage of the process considers Condition Rating Indicators. The following indicators are considered for each bridge:
scouring cracking the condition of abutment (the approach) the condition of piers and piles the condition of guardrails vegetation under guardrails sediment in scuppers signage delineation and condition of culvert cells
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Bridges The more deteriorated a bridge is, the higher the rating for the above indicators. Each section bridge is rated against the Condition Rating Indicators detailed in the below tables. Score
Cracking
1
Isolated fine cracking
2
3
Score
Scouring
Abutment Condition
Vegetation under Guardrail
Guardrail Condition
Less than 50cm
Good
No cover
Good
Some significant larger cracking
Between 51cm and 1m
Average
Moderate vegetation cover
Average
Widespread, large cracking
More than 1m
Poor
Significant vegetation cover
Poor
Sediment in Scuppers
Signage Condition
1
Clear
Good
2
Partially blocked
3
Fully blocked
Piers and Piles
Delineation
Culvert Condition
No visible signs of deterioration
Good
Good
Average
Some cracking and deterioration
Average
Average
Poor
Spalling, wood rot and splintering evident
Poor
Poor
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Bridges The results of the Condition and Risk Rating Indicators are combined to give an individual asset or section of the asset a Works Schedule Priority Rating. For example a section of bridge could be rated as follows: Bridge XYZ Cracking (C) 1 Scouring (S) 3 Abutment condition (A) 2 Vegetation under Guardrail (V) 1 Guardrail condition (G) 3 Sediment in scuppers (SS) 3 Signage condition (SC) 2 Piers and piles (P) 1 Delineation (D) 2 Culvert Cells Condition (CC) 1 Road Type (RT) 1.1 (Collector) Works Schedule Priority Rating (C +S+A+V+L+G+SC+P+D+CC)RT= Formula Works Schedule Priority Rating (1+3+2+1+3+3+2+1+2+1)1.1 = 19.9 The Work Schedule Priority Ratings for each bridge are then ranked from highest to lowest to produce prioritised schedule of works for maintenance, replacement and renewal of the network.
Intervention Levels To guide Council’s response to customer requests a set of reactive triggers has been developed for each asset category. These triggers are called intervention levels and include expected response times. The following tables detail the intervention levels and response times for maintenance of the bridge network. Bridge Intervention Levels Blockage
Inspection within one week. Corrective action taken within one month.
Guardrails missing
Corrective action taken within 1 week
Safety sign missing
Corrective actions taken within 2 weeks
Damage
Immediate action.
Poor delineation
Corrective action taken within 1 month.
inspection.
Immediate
corrective
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Bridges Condition Inspection Regime The condition and risk of the bridge network will be assessed simultaneously as part of the Condition Inspection Regime. This inspection will audit the condition of the section of bridge against the Condition Rating Reference Sheet and also assess the risk based on location and usage. The entire bridge network will be audited every year. The inspections will be in the form of a GPS audit routine for all bridges in the Wagga Wagga LGA. The inspections will include:
pedestrian surfaces and railing barriers guardrail protection barriers vegetation under guardrails road surface and expansion joins abutments sediment adjacent to abutment scuppers armouring on spill through abutment scouring around bridge structure underside of the bridge deck abutments and piers and piles the waterway and vegetation and trees in the area of the abutments
Ad hoc inspections are conducted in response to customer requests, on a needs basis and where the asset degrades due to unforeseen or unusual circumstances, like a storm event. These inspections are done onsite by trained surveillance officers and the results are captured in Council’s electronic mapping system (ArcGIS). A structural inspection regime will also be implemented across the bridge network in the Wagga Wagga LGA every 5 years for all bridge types except bridge sized culverts. This inspection will be in the form of a non-destructive structural audit. Structural audits are carried out by specialist bridge engineers who perform a series of tests on each structure to determine its structural integrity. The outcome of these tests creates a set of actions to be completed on the bridge to ensure its ongoing structural integrity. These works are then carried out by Council staff or specialist contractors depending on the nature of the works. Each bridge should be structurally inspected every 5 years.
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Bridges 3
Life Cycle Management
Life cycle management details how Council plans to manage and operate the asset category at the agreed level of service while minimising life cycle costs throughout the useful life of the asset. For most local government assets there are four key phases to the life cycle, namely: acquisition, operation and maintenance, renewal, and disposal.
Costs occur in each phase of the asset life cycle. It is important to attribute these life cycle costs to each phase to allow for effective decision making about how the asset will be managed. The life cycle costs of assets include:
initial capital investment operation and maintenance refurbishment and renewal administration, overheads and taxes depreciation capital use rate charges or rate of return and disposal of the asset at the end of its useful life
The initial capital or investment cost of a new asset is a significant cost and often dominates the decision as to whether to acquire the asset or expand the infrastructure network. However, it is important to include all the costs associated with each phase of the asset life cycle, including ongoing operation and maintenance, future renewal and disposal.
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Bridges Target Maintenance Events The following table details the target maintenance events associated with the bridge network annually. Bridge Network Target Maintenance Events Event Target Maintenance Events per Year Visual inspection Twice per year Structural testing Once every 5 years Minor maintenance Once per year Vegetation control 4 times per year Painting Once every 5 years NB minor maintenance includes – cleaning scuppers, cleaning and sediment removal from abutment, cleaning of expansion joints and general removal of debris.
Renewal A detailed work plan for the renewal of the bridge network is developed annually to support this Asset Management Plan. This renewal program is prioritised based on condition and risk.
Disposal Currently, Council includes the cost to dispose of an asset in the unit rate of that asset type. As Council moves towards strategic asset management this cost will be captured separately. The Asset Management Plan will be updated to reflect this change as it occurs across the asset types.
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Bridges 4
Level of Service
The Asset Management Plan for 2011 has been developed based on data collation, research outcomes and the results of Council’s internal stakeholder engagement process. The next stage of the process is to ask the community to identify which asset condition is satisfactory to them. This will begin with an extensive community consultation process. The consultation will be in the form of a community survey which will be conducted online, at community gatherings, through focus groups and stakeholder meetings. The survey will use new technology, be based on images and a simple selection process. The outcomes of the consultation will form the foundation for true community engagement to occur in relation to the management of infrastructure across the Wagga Wagga LGA, in particular the development of agreed levels of service, supported by Council and the community. As Council gathers data from the community about the level of service for each asset category the outcomes will be integrated into the Asset Management Plan. Until the outcomes of the community engagement are known Council will provide costings to achieve an average condition for each asset category and use this as the satisfactory level of service.
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Bridges 5
Financial Considerations
Current Liability The following graph details the proportion of the bridge network in each condition.
*The increase in the number of bridges included in this graph from 2008/09 to 2009/10 is due to changes in the way the condition rating data is categorised. In 2009/10 the condition ratings of bridge sized culverts were included in the bridge category. Council’s current liability in relation to the infrastructure network is the sum of all asset units which have a condition rating of poor and very poor. The current liability of the bridge network is estimated to be $2,537,350 (in 2010 dollars). The following table provides the details of the bridge network current liability. Asset Condition 4 – Poor 5 – Very Poor Total Current Liability
Amount
Estimated Cost in 2010 dollars
2,067m2
$2,427,985
95.1m2
$109,365
2,162m2
$2,537,350
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Bridges Project Annual Maintenance Costs For Council to achieve the intervention levels as detailed in Section 2 of this Asset Management Plan and the target maintenance events as detailed in Section 3, the projected annual maintenance budget for the bridge network is estimated to be $700,038 (in 2010 dollars). This estimate was developed by Council’s Asset Management Planning and Program Integration Teams in 2010. It is a first principle estimate and is expected to vary as Council improves its asset management process and strategies. The following table provides further details of the maintenance costs associated with maintaining the bridge network each year: Bridge Network Projected Annual Maintenance Costs Event Projected Annual Maintenance Costs Bridge visual inspections $48,092 Bridge structural testing $80,000 Minor bridge maintenance $409,325 Vegetation control $69,426 Delineation $21,959 Sign maintenance $6,000 Guardrail maintenance $10,240 Painting $54,996
Required Increase to Annual Maintenance Budget per Additional Unit As the asset base increases it is important to ensure that the annual maintenance budget also increases. The annual maintenance budget for the bridge network should increase by $9.22 per additional square metre of bridge.
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Bridges 6
Assumptions
There are some generic assumptions made in the management of assets in Wagga Wagga City Council, these are found in the Asset Management Plan. In addition, the following assumptions have been made in relation to the bridges network: 
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Culverts which are longer than 6m are considered to be bridge sized culverts and are included in this Section of the Asset Management Plan. Bridge sized culverts are condition rated in line with the Bridges Condition Rating Reference Sheet and the Culvert Condition Rating Reference Sheet. The bridge sized culvert condition ratings were included in the bridge network data for the first time in 2009/10.
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