Asset Management Plan – Roundabouts and Medians
Roundabouts and Medians 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 assets has been audited as part of the asset inspection regime, rated against the 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
Map – Condition This Section of the Asset Management Plan relates to the centre island of the roundabout and the medians. The following map indicates the condition of the centre island of roundabouts from excellent to very poor across the Wagga Wagga Local Government Area (LGA) and the table highlights the proportion of the network in each condition. Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor
26.2% 61.9% 7.1% 4.8% 0%
11 26 3 2 0
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Roundabouts and Medians
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Roundabouts and Medians The following table highlights the proportion of the median network in each condition. 6.7%
1,481m2
91.7%
18,105m2
Average
7.1%
1565m2
Poor
4.6%
1,011m2
0%
0
Excellent Good
Very Poor
Size of the Network There are 42 roundabouts in the Wagga Wagga urban area. The following tables provide details of the various types of roundabouts: RTA Owned Roundabouts Gardens
3
820m2
Concrete
6
2,128m2
Total
9
2,947m2
Council Owned Roundabouts Artwork
2
365m2
Gardens
8
1,780m2
Concrete
23
3,831m2
Total
33
5,976m2
Challenges of the Network Roundabouts are often landscaped with gardens and turf. The maintenance of these gardens is challenging in the Wagga Wagga environment due to prolonged periods of low rainfall and high temperatures, particularly in the summer months compounded by the hot concrete of the roundabout. The hot, dry climate makes it difficult to keep gardens alive when they are not irrigated and increases the quantity of water used in those that are. Council regularly needs to replace gardens in these roundabouts. As this infrastructure asset is on the road reserve, in the middle of an intersection which usually has high traffic volumes the safety of the works crews is a challenge facing Council. When gardens are constructed in roundabouts which don’t have adequate drainage the water used to irrigate them often leaks into the adjacent road pavement. This often destabilises the road pavement and formation which leads to the wearing surface breaking down.
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Condition Assessment
Condition Ratings Reference Sheet The condition of roundabouts is audited against a rating scale which ranges from excellent to very poor. This scale is used as the basis of all assessments of roundabouts and medians by Council’s Surveillance Team. The rating scale forms the Condition Rating Reference Sheets below. Roundabouts
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Roundabouts and Medians Medians
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Roundabouts and Medians Risk and Condition Rating Indicators Council also uses Risk and Condition Rating Indicators to determine a prioritised works schedule for the maintenance, renewal and replacement of the large asset categories. These indicators are used in addition to the Condition Ratings Reference Sheet to enable further analysis of the worst section of the asset class. As the size of the roundabout network is not considered to be large, indicators are not required.
Condition Inspection Regime The condition and risk of the roundabout network will be assessed simultaneously as part of the Condition Inspection Regime. This inspection will audit the condition of each roundabout against the Condition Rating Reference Sheet and also assess the risk based on location and usage. The entire roundabout network will be audited every year. The inspections will be in the form of a GPS audit routine for all roundabouts in the Wagga Wagga LGA. The inspections will identify: areas of damage untidiness and signage Ad hoc inspections will be conducted in response to customer requests, on a needs basis and where the asset degrades due to un-foreseen 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).
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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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Roundabouts and Medians Target Maintenance Events The following tables detail the target maintenance events associated with roundabouts and medians annually. Roundabout Target Maintenance Events Event Target Maintenance Events per Year Vegetation control Twice per year per roundabout Median Target Maintenance Events Event Target Maintenance Events per Year Vegetation control Twice per year per median
Renewal A detailed work plan for the renewal of the roundabouts and medians 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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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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Financial Considerations
The following graph details the proportion of the roundabout network in each condition.
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 roundabout network is estimated to be $18,000 (in 2010 dollars). The following table provides the details of the roundabout network current liability. Roundabout Network Current Liability Asset Condition Amount Estimated Cost in 2010 dollars 4 – Poor 1 $18,000 5 – Very Poor 0 $0 Total Current Liability 1 $18,000
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Roundabouts and Medians The following graph details the proportion of the median network in each condition.
The current liability of the median network is estimated to be $224,329 (in 2010 dollars). The following table provides the details of the median network current liability. Median Network Current Liability Asset Condition 4 – Poor 5 – Very Poor Total Current Liability
Amount
Estimated Cost in 2010 dollars
1,011m2
$223,634
3m2
$695
1,014m2
$224,329
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Roundabouts and Medians Projected Annual Maintenance Costs For Council to achieve the target maintenance events as detailed in Section 3 of this Asset Management Plan, the projected annual maintenance budget for the roundabouts and medians is estimated to be $41,835 (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 processes and strategies. The following table provides further details of the estimated costs associated with maintaining the roundabout each year: Roundabout Network Projected Maintenance Maintenance Events Maintenance Projected Costs per Year Vegetation control roundabout $8,182 Vegetation control median $9,000 Sign maintenance $24,671
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 roundabout network should increase by $521 for each roundabout and $62 for each median as it expands.
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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 roundabouts and medians network:  

The unit rates of the roundabouts and medians are based on a concrete roundabout. The required increase to the annual maintenance budget per additional unit relates to the maintenance cost per roundabout and is based on the average size of a roundabout in Wagga Wagga LGA. This average size is 121m2. This Section of the Asset Management Plan relates to the centre of the roundabout and the median, the road which forms the intersection is included in the Sealed Road Section.
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