state of the asset - old.buckscc.gov.uk

State of the Asset

2013/14

State of the Asset Report 2013/14

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Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to provide factual information on the condition of the transport asset and the activities which have taken place in the financial year 2013/14. It is factual in nature and only provides a brief commentary in each area and a very brief assessment of what is likely to happen if current practices and budgets remain similar to last year.

The intention is that the report will serve as a source of consistent information for reference and will be used to assess how well each asset is performing and allow Buckinghamshire County Council to identify which areas it wishes to improve. This will enable appropriate assessments to be carried out to provide input to the Medium Term Planning process to set budgets for future years.

The report is broken down into sections for each asset group:

Carriageways

Footways

Drainage

Structures

Street Lighting

Each section covers the size of the asset, it’s condition and factual information relating to how well the asset is received by others, in particular the public. It also covers works carried out this year. As the report evolves it will add further information and future years will include commentary on how we are achieving against our predictions and targets.


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Appendix A Asset Group - Carriageway


Page | 3

Carriageways Summary

There are a number of key observations concerning this asset group:

There remains general customer dissatisfaction with the condition of the road network. There

also appears a high customer concern with roads in residential areas given the proportion of

public reports of defects in these areas.

The current level of investment and practice is leading to a gradual but steady reduction in

‘red’ road lengths but it is not reducing in the ‘Amber’ band. This will potentially lead to high

future costs if interventions do not target these roads.

Although customer contact is still at a relatively high level the number of potholes being

reported appears to be reducing. There was an increase in pre-emptive and planned pothole

repairs being carried out in 2013/14 such as jet patching, patching of cat 2 defects and the

strategic patching repair program.

Future risks associated with inflation, climate & general contractor availability are key items to

manage in order to avoid a decline in service.

If current budgets and practices remain we can expect to observe a continuation of the steady

overall improvement of the highway network. However, a large number of defects are still

reported by the public before they are identified by proactive means. This will inevitably lead

to customer dissatisfaction. There will still be a significant proportion of all classifications of

roads in a less than ‘generally good’ condition.

The following items detail analysis of this asset group.


Page | 4

Asset Data

Total Carriageway Length by Road Class

Carriageway inventory is held as a UKPMS compatible network in Symology.

The carriageway asset is expected to grow at a significantly higher rate in the medium term with the upcoming adoptions of large developments in the county.

Valuation

Each year the County is required to submit a valuation of its

transportation assets to central government. The

requirement for this is relatively new and is still evolving,

with increasing detail being used year on year and the

addition of more assets. It is therefore not possible yet to

give an overall trend.

The depreciated value (approx. £366M for Buckinghamshire) is calculated with a consistent methodology nationally using the condition data gathered each year. Although this value is not generated to estimate the actual amount of work required to bring all roads up to a good standard it is indicative of the scale of work required.

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Member Area Network Length

Road Class Total Length (km)

Urban Length (km)

Rural Length (km)

Average Urban Width (m)

Average Rural Width (m)

A Road 418 174 244 8.5 8.4

B Road 152 70 82 7.4 6.9

C Road 826 366 460 6.1 5.9

U Road 1803 1300 503 6.4 3.8

Total 3199 1910 1289

CIPFA 2013/14 Summary

Gross Replacement Cost £3,500M

Depreciated Replacement Cost £3,144M

Depreciation £366M


Page | 5

Condition

The graph shows the condition of the road network over the last 3 years. Short sections of road are assessed as Red, Amber or Green and these are collated to report the condition for the network.

The graphs, which match the increased expenditure for carriageway maintenance since 2011, show a gradual, yet steady, improvement, with less of the county’s roads in the worst condition. In contrast the percentage Amber has not seen any substantial decrease which leaves the potential for future deterioration into the Red zone.

Over the whole network approximately 2/3 is in the generally good condition category.

Note: The larger improvement in the C classification is, in part, due to a change in the interpretation of data and does not represent an increase of the same proportion. Data for the whole of the Unclassified network was collected in 2013/14 for the first time so only one year of consistent data is available.

For this report we have not included for improvements made on the network by the in-year work this improvement is not reflected until the condition data is recollected hence the 2013/14 figures do not include the beneficial impact of the 2013/14 program.

Investment

Budget Allocation Cost Category Expenditure (£000’s)

Percentage (%)

Routine – Reactive Repairs (Cat 1) 2,200 9.3

Routine – Reactive Repairs Patching 1,600 6.7

Planned Maintenance - Member Schemes 13,600 55.9

Planned Maintenance – Strategic Schemes 2,700 11.2

Planned Maintenance – Strategic Repairs 2,700 11.0

Winter Service 1,400 6.0

TOTAL 24,200 100

During 2013/14 an additional revenue budget of £2.7M was invested in specific areas of targeted C Road patching, unclassified road targeted repair of worst condition sections and sections with high pothole occurrences. A significant increase in budget assigned to Strategic Schemes was also made.

66.4 69.6 70.4

59.8 62.9 63.0

51.9 53.4 60.1

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30.2 27.9 29.6

35.6 33.4

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11/12 12/13A ClassRoads

13/14 11/12 12/13B ClassRoads

13/14 11/12 12/13C ClassRoads

13/14 13/14U ClassRoads

Plan maintenance soon Plan investigation soon Generally good condition


Page | 6

Customer Satisfaction

National Highways & Transportation Survey 2013

NHT data shows customer perception of the overall condition of the carriageways is below the national

average which places Buckinghamshire near the bottom of the overall results table compared to other County

Councils.

The “condition of road surface” has the lowest level of customer satisfaction. The category of ‘Very

Dissatisfied’ is the most prevalent result. Highway condition is also considered the most important factor by

those surveyed.

These responses have also been reflected in the localised Buckinghamshire Tracker telephone survey where the levels of dissatisfaction with condition of highways were high.


Page | 7

Customer Contact

Road defects are the most common category within transportation that lead customers to contact the Call Centre. A Customer Reference Number (CRN) is raised to record all instances of customer contact.

Although the data shows significantly more customer contact associated with the U road network. However, given its length and comparative worse condition to the A and B roads, the data indicates that there is a greater focus on the primary routes clearly reflecting their higher use.

Key Performance Indicators

Satisfaction of works affecting frontages (Postcard Survey) CMP Schemes 93.70%

Members CMP Schemes delivered in accordance with agreed Programme & Target Costs 91%

% completion of winter salting route's) within required time 99.98%

% of works orders completed without the need for remedial work - (potholes only) 95.90%

% Cat 1 dangerous potholes made safe across BCC - (24 Hour) 100.00%

Revenue patching programme delivered on time (Plane & Patch) 100.00%

Member satisfaction with LAT's Service 90.00%

% Principal roads where structural maintenance should be considered 5.8

% Non-principal classified roads where structural maintenance should be considered 7.8

% Unclassified Roads requiring structural maintenance 33.5

Percentage principle roads network SCRIM survey below level in current year 5%

Predictability of Time - Primavera Milestones achieved 100.00%

Summarised above are the KPIs relating to Carriageways on the TfB contract where yellow items are contract and blue are management indicators. In general compliance is good with condition of the unclassified roads being a first reporting of a network wide survey. The winter maintenance for 2013/14 included a total of 25 routes (986 runs).

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A Road B Road C Road U Road Total

Carriageway CRNs CRNs Per km

Network 2013 / 14

A Roads 11.2

B Roads 12.3

C Roads 7.5

U Roads 6.1

Average 7.5


Page | 8

Defects

Total repairs include those reported by customers as well as targeted jet patching and programmed patching works.

There was a prolonged period of very cold weather during March and April 2013 which has influenced these figures. The winter of 2013/14 was the wettest on record.

Category 1 Pothole occurrences appear to be on a general decrease.

There appears to be a fairly even distribution of defects identified during safety inspections and via public reporting across the classified network whether urban or rural. On the unclassified network however, there is a higher proportion of urban defects being reported by members of the public and this also exceeds the amount being identified during scheduled inspections. This is likely to worsen with less frequent inspections.

Red Claims

Claim frequency for vehicle / property damage do follow an annual ‘peak trough’ pattern and are weather dependent. Evidence of increased claims is present over the inclement weather periods of April 2013 (extended winter) and February 2014 (high rainfall).

Overall there are an increasing number of claims being issued which is in contrast to the diminishing number of pothole reports.

Repudiation rates are currently at 82%.

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A Roads B Roads C Roads U Roads Total

Defects in Urban Rural Areas

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Inspected & Reported Defects

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Page | 9

High Level Future Risks

Risk Description Impact Mitigation Process

Inflationary pressures in construction (especially oil price rises)

Insufficient budget available to achieve predicted targets

Monitor prices and provide early information to financial teams.

Climate change and extreme weather events will alter deterioration rates.

Roads will fail more readily that predicted requiring increased expenditure and unforeseen emergency action

Monitor and investigate impact of changing climate on roads and include in future modelling.

Increased nationwide highway investment leading to reduced Contractor resource availability.

Insufficient contractor availability will lead to missed deadlines in future schemes programme.

Develop long term programmes to secure resources.

Increasing asset adoptions and difficulties in maintaining ‘high spec’ materials and areas.

Pressure on resource to inspect / maintain more road network. Increased materials cost to maintain assets.

Increase resource and inspection schedule optimisation. Budget allocation and programme targeted works.

Aging network resulting in increasingly expensive treatments.

Large proportion of network reaching a point where deterioration is accelerating.

Identification of the affected network and strategic budget and treatment programme developed.


Page | 1

Appendix B Asset Group - Footways


Page | 2

Footways Summary


There remains general customer dissatisfaction with the condition of the footway network.

The current level of investment and practice is leading to reductions in footway condition.

This will lead to high future costs if larger scale treatment is not carried out. However, the

budget allocation for 2014/15 is significantly increased and should be sufficient to halt

deterioration.

There is a lack of formal strategy and agreed service level in relation to the maintenance

and management of this asset group within Buckinghamshire.

Footway defects are collected during moving inspections for a large proportion of the

network leading to potential low identification of faults.

There are relatively small numbers of red claims made however these are of high value for

personal injury sustained on defective footways.



Page | 3

Asset Data

Total footway length by category

Footway condition is held against the UKPMS compatible network in Symology.

The footway asset is expected to grow at a significantly higher rate in the medium term with the upcoming adoptions of large developments in the county.

Valuation

Each year the County is required to submit a valuation

of its transportation assets to central government. The



addition of more assets. It is therefore not possible yet

to give an overall trend.

The depreciated value (approx. £76M for Buckinghamshire) is calculated locally using the condition data gathered each year. Although this value is

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Member Area Footway Length (m)

Footway Category Total Length (km)

Urban Length (km)

Rural Length (km)

Average Width (m)

Area (m²)

CAT 1 Primary Walking Routes 34.06 34.06 0 1.8 72.22

CAT 1 Flagged 6.06 6.06 0 1.8 10.91

CAT 2 Secondary Walking Routes 134.38 134.38 0 1.8 260.78

CAT 2 Flagged 10.50 10.50 0 1.8 18.90

CAT 3 Linked Footways 1307.28 1169.56 137.71 1.6 2091.64

CAT 4 Local Access Footways 899.62 827.52 72.10 1.6 1439.39

Remote Footways 89.75 89.75 0 1.6 143.59

Total 2481.64 2271.82 209.81 4007.62


Gross Replacement Cost £313M

Depreciated Replacement Cost £237M

Depreciation £76M


Page | 4

not generated to estimate the actual amount of work required to bring all footways up to a good standard it is indicative of the scale of work required.

Condition

The graph shows the condition of the footway network over each category. Sections of footway are assessed in the following categories As New, Aesthetically Impaired, Functionally Impaired or Structurally Unsound along with the widths of footway affected. These are collated to report the condition for the network.

Note: the full footway network was first surveyed in its entirety over a three year programme that concluded in April 13. Historical condition information is not available with which to assess deterioration.

Investment


Percentage (%)

Routine – Reactive Repairs (Cat 1) 25 9.1

Planned Maintenance – Strategic Schemes 250 90.9

TOTAL 275 100

During 2013/14 capital funding of approximately £250k was invested in footway schemes that were targeted strategically (to address areas of particular concern). A minimal revenue budget was invested in footways where defects constituting a category 1 defect were repaired.

86%

43%

28% 23% 17%

6%

36%

50% 57% 63%

8% 21% 22% 20% 20%

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Cat 1&2 Flagged Cat 1&2 Cat 3 Cat 4 Remote

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As New or Asthetically Impaired Functionally Impairment Structurally Unsound


Page | 5



Although the NHT data does not establish customer perception of footway condition specifically it is

included within certain road responses.


Page | 6

Customer Contact

Footway contacts are recorded separately to carriageway related complaints. A Customer Reference Number (CRN) is raised to record all instances of customer contact.

The data shows significantly more customer contact associated with the Category 3 footway network. However, given its length and comparative worse condition to category 1 and 2 footways, the data indicates that there is a greater focus on the primary routes clearly reflecting their higher use.


% footways (Cat 1&2) requiring structural maintenance 36.5

The footways indicator is a management indicator. It is currently below target levels. Additional investment in the footways asset during 2014/15 may improve performance against this indicator.

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Category1

Category2

Category3

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Total

Footway CRNs CRNs per km

Footway 2013 / 14

Category 1 3.4

Category 2 1.6

Category 3 1.0

Category 4 0.7

Average 1.0


Page | 7

Defects

There was a prolonged period of very cold weather during March and April 2013 which has influenced these figures.

Generally repairs are consistent over the year but at relatively low numbers considering the length and condition.

There are more defects being identified via public reporting across the whole footway network compared to that of scheduled inspections.

An amended policy of inspection frequencies may reverse this trend and enable a more pre-emptive repair regime.

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Footway Category


Report

Inspection


Page | 8

Red Claims

The number of claims received on footways accounts for around 5% of all claims with a typical month having between 5 and 10 claims. They are also predominantly personal injury claims and therefore often have more significant consequences and higher liability costs.

Claims received are generally evenly distributed through the months of the year, with only limited evidence of a peak during winter.



Inflationary pressures in construction (especially oil price rises)

Insufficient budget available to achieve predicted targets

Monitor prices and provide early information to financial teams.

Increased high value claims for personal injury sustained on defective footways

Increased risk of high value claims against BCC.

Increased treatment programme to pre-emptively removed defects.

Increased nationwide highway investment leading to reduced Contractor resource availability.

Insufficient contractor availability will increase delivery periods beyond programme.

Create long term future programme of work to secure resource.


Pressure on resource to inspect / maintain more road network. Increased materials cost to maintain assets.

Increase resource and inspection schedule optimisation. Budget allocation or re-specification for maintenance.


Large scale of network reaching a point where deterioration is accelerating.


Revised safety inspection policy.

Any change to the Safety Inspection regime puts pressure on existing resource to carry this out

Identify route optimisation and where resource saturation occurs, more inspectors to be employed.

Lack of long term knowledge of construction & deterioration rates

Inability to identify lifecycle costs & correct treatment regime

Repeat & enhance condition surveys.


Page | 1

Appendix C Asset Group - Drainage


Page | 2

Drainage Summary


The ability to assess this asset group is currently hindered by an absence of

data.

A properly functioning drainage system is essential to protect the

carriageways from premature failure.

The current level of investment and practice is leading to a reduction in

condition and performance in this asset group. This will lead to high future

costs if proactive cyclical work and larger scale repair treatment is not carried

out.

There is a lack of formal policy and agreed service level in relation to the

maintenance and management of this asset group within Buckinghamshire.

Instances of high risk flooding areas are increasing across the county.

Although inclement weather is a contributory factor, an under-performing

drainage asset compounds the impact of these events further.



Page | 3

Asset Data

Total asset group quantity by type (extrapolated figures only)

Drainage inventory is held within the asset register module in Symology.

The drainage asset is expected to grow at a significantly higher rate in the medium term with the upcoming adoptions of large developments in the county.

Note: quantities are generated through extrapolation from a partially populated network (25%). Asset data collection project (2014/15) will improve the accuracy of these records.

Valuation

Linear drainage items are included in the carriageway and street furniture elements of the CIPFA infrastructure annual valuation report.

Drainage Category Total Urban Total

Rural Total

Gullies 79600 24600 55000

Soakaways 15000 12314 2640

Balancing Ponds 14 14

Pipe work (km) 1122 810 313

Ditches (km) 944 200 744

Inspection Chambers 37900 25300 12600


Page | 4

Condition

The graph shows the condition of gullies in terms of the level of silt present when they were treated during the cleansing regime 2013/14. Red represents gullies which were three quarters or more were full, Amber for half full and Green for a quarter or less. This is a good measure of how the drainage assets across the group are performing at a localised level, whereby low levels of silt allow efficient water removal from the highway.

Note: gulley locations are still being identified as part of a data collection project in 2014/15.

Flooding Risk sites are identified and recorded in the asset register by Local Area Technicians. This is an increasing bank of sites that is an indication of drainage system issues that require more intensive investigation and potentially larger scale works.

High risk flooding sites have been identified particularly on the C Road network. Overlaying gully cleanse output data with these flood risk sites shows significant correlation between underperforming assets and occurrences of flooding.

7.0% 5.2% 12.4% 6.9% 7.8%

50.6% 50.4%

60.3% 83.1%

72.5%

30.2% 30.0%

18.7%

8.3% 14.6%

12.1% 14.5% 8.6% 1.7% 5.1%

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Network Gully Cleanse Results

25% Full 50% Full 75% Full Full

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Network Presence

High Risk Flood Sites


Page | 5

Investment


Percentage (%)

Revenue – Gully Cleanse Programme 484 42.3

Revenue – High Pressure Jetting 84 7.3

Capital – Drainage Schemes 396 34.6

Capital – Borehole Cleanse Programme 85 7.4

Capital – HP Jetting Programme 96 8.3

TOTAL 1145 100

During 2013/14 capital funding of approximately £577k was invested in capital drainage works that were targeted strategically to repair damage assets and cleanse larger scale systems. The remaining funds were utilised on revenue activities under the annual gully cleansing programme and Cat 1 responses to drainage issue with high pressure jetting works. Increased funds for 2014/15 to conduct should show an improvement in overall condition of the drainage asset during 2014/15.



NHT data suggests there is a general 50% level of satisfaction with drainage across all

counties surveyed with Buckinghamshire being slightly below this. This does not reflect the

impact of the severe weather during the winter of 2013/14.


Page | 6

Customer Contact

Drainage related enquires generate a relatively large proportion of customers contact via the Call Centre. A Customer Reference Number (CRN) is raised to record all instances of customer contact.

The data shows a higher proportion of contact relating to A Roads given its length.

Works orders do not currently specify individual defects. Generally issues are addressed on a street level approach therefore it is not possible at this stage to determine individual items of works / repairs.


Annual Gully maintenance programme completed to specification and time line 100

The drainage indicator is a contract indicator that is currently at 100% compliance. This is the only measure of drainage maintenance delivery and relates to the gully cleansing programme.



Climate change and extreme weather events

Current impaired drainage systems over saturated leading to flood damage / liability

Repair whole drainage systems in known high risk flooding areas as part of longer term programme.

Investigatory work is not conducted to prevent system failure

Drainage systems fail beyond gully and become ineffective to alleviate flooding.

Conduct investigatory work to determine works extents at high flood risk sites.

Lack of comprehensive grip cutting, soakaway & ditch clearance policy or works schedule

Drainage systems blockages occur beyond gully leading to inefficient / failed assets.

Introduce formal approved policy and cyclical clearance work to each asset type of drainage group.

Increasing asset adoptions. Pressure on resource to inspect / maintain more road network.

Increase resource and inspection schedule optimisation.


Large scale of network reaching a point where deterioration is accelerating.


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Appendix D Asset Group – Street Lighting


Page | 2

Street Lighting Summary


The current level of investment and practice is leading to a deterioration in lighting column

structural condition. This will lead to high future costs if larger scale treatment is not carried

out.

There is a relatively high number of customer contact regarding this asset group.

There are a relatively high number of defects relating to street lighting. Preventative

methodologies such as night time patrol programs and capital projects to install energy

efficient and longer operating LED units will assist to reduce the number of defects on the

network.



Page | 3

Asset Data

Street lighting inventory is held in Symology.

The asset is expected to grow at a significantly higher rate in the medium term with the upcoming adoptions in large developments in the county.

Valuation







The depreciated value (approx. £32M for Buckinghamshire) is calculated locally based on age. Although this value is not generated to estimate the actual amount of work required to bring all footways up to a good standard it is indicative of the scale of work required.

Operational Life Profile

The graph shows age profile of the lighting asset. A column generally has an expected operational life of 40 years.

Not all columns are currently being replaced as they reach this age, they are being structurally tested as part of an annual program in order to mitigate risk of ad-hoc failures.

There is a need to manage the medium and long term column replacement requirements.

Investment

0K

2K

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0-20 20-30 30-40 OVER 40 UNKNOWN

Years

No

of u

nits

ColumnAge

Lighting Category Total A Road B Road C Road U Road Footways

Street Lights 28237 5552 1031 2425 18970 256

Pole Brackets & Bulk Heads 681 200 20 184 265 12

Illuminated Signs 4271 1932 256 829 1211 43

Illuminated Bollards 1689 890 174 335 283 7

Illuminated Beacons 429 213 61 68 87 0

Total 35307 8787 1542 3841 20816 318


Gross Replacement Cost £51M

Depreciated Replacement Cost £19M

Depreciation £32M


Page | 4


Percentage (%)

Revenue 1,200 24

Capital – Salix Schemes 2,500 4

Capital – Structural Replacements 200 48

Energy Costs 1,200 24

TOTAL 5,100 100

During 2013/14 capital funding of approximately £2.5M was invested in Salix energy saving schemes that were targeted strategically and £200k was utilised on the column replacement programme. £1.2M was utilised on revenue activities. The remaining revenue budget of £1.2M was spent on electricity charges.

Based on age profile of the asset, to maintain the current stock approaching end of operational life would require the following investment profile. A linear average is used to represent the management of the ‘peak & trough’ nature of the profile.

Note: this does NOT include the existing stock over operational life that is being managed through the current structural maintenance regime.

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20 Year Replacement Profile - Stand Still

Replacements


Page | 5



Across all councils there is a 60% level of satisfaction with the speed of repair of street lighting with

Buckinghamshire being slightly below this. The data shows that customer perception of street lighting

related items are mixed across undecided and fairly satisfied.

Customer Contact

Customer contact relating to Street Lighting is comparatively very high compared to the other asset groups with only carriageway enquiries being higher.

The data shows that the majority of contact is relating to units located on U roads which suggest residential units are those that are more likely to be of concern to customers. A roads also have a relatively high proportion possibly due to higher usage by the travelling public.

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Street Lighting CRNs


Page | 6


The average number of working days taken to repair a street lighting fault that is under the control of the local authority.

10.12

% of BCC street lights in lighting across the network 96%

% of BCC illuminated signs and bollards, in lighting across the network 88%

% of all Cat 1 defects attended and made safe within 24 hours 99.54%

% of reported 2 hour emergency defects attended and made safe within 2 hours. 99.66%

To measure the progress of local authorities in reducing CO2 emissions associated with street lights, illuminated signs/bollards and traffic signals.

5437.52

Indicators in blue are contractual those in yellow are management. Compliance was achieved in all performance indicators apart from the CO2 emissions tonnage which was 18% below target (as of April 2014) but further data from energy provider is outstanding on this.

Defects

Generally repairs are higher during winter periods given reduced sunlight hours.

More defects are being identified by inspection than customer reports.

There is a general trend of increased reports from members of public during the reduced light period of winter.

Note: night time patrols are conducted on a quarterly schedule which leads to 3 month peaks in data.

2 years ago almost all defects were customer reports.

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Increased energy costs Potential insufficient budget to manage any significant increase in energy prices.

Continue to deliver energy efficient units to reduce consumption. Monitor energy industry’s long term price projections and assign budget accordingly.


Pressure on resource to inspect / maintain more units on the network. Additional annual energy costs. Increased materials cost to maintain ‘high specification’ assets.

Increase resource, inspection schedules and energy budget. Budget allocation and/or re-specification for maintenance of high spec units.

Aging profile resulting in increasing backlog.

Increasing proportion of assets reaching end of life.

Identification of the affected units and structural replacement / testing programme revised.

There is a risk in terms of columns aged 25 to 35 years failing testing due to lack of protection specification.

Potential failure of affected units and liability for associated damage / injury

Conduct annual structural testing regime.

Lack of knowledge of private cabling network

Failed electrical equipment causing high cost replacement works. Poor customer perception for inoperable equipment. Potential liability associated with long term out of operation equipment and unsafe cabling

Capture all associated asset data from scheme files and site surveys. Lifecycle planning, testing and Long term budget plans for future replacement works.

Aging illuminated signs and bollard assets

Failing equipment leading to potential liability for traffic features not illuminated.

Lifecycle planning and long term budget allocation for future replacement works.


Page | 1

Appendix E Asset Group – Highway Structures


Page | 2

Highway Structures Summary


The current level of investment appears to be stabilising the overall bridge stock condition,

following an injection of additional Medium Term Plan (MTP) funding in the last year. This

level of funding needs to be continued in order to keep the current condition scores stable.

The MTP bid for undertaking level one scour assessments on relevant structures within the

bridge stock is currently ongoing. It is highly likely that level two assessments will be

required as a result of the first stage, and that additional works to address scour risks will

be identified in the coming years.

The MTP bid to allow checking of the current arrangements for low headroom signing,

protecting vulnerable rail bridges, is ongoing as well. This work is also highly likely to

identify sub-standard current signing arrangements and identify works to improve the

signing arrangements, particularly where vehicle strikes are a problem.

The current arrangement for valuing the depreciation of the stock uses a coarse system,

which does not follow the most recent recommendations for structures valuation. This is

because the latest recommendations require material type data to be known and held down

at component level e.g. abutment material, parapet material. This data is currently not

recorded on the database in a format that allows this calculation. The MTP bid to assist

with Code of Practice compliance will mean this deficiency can be addressed in the future,

but not in time for the 2014 Valuation.

There are a number of structures currently in the pipeline for adoption from various

developments, in particular at Berryfields. This development alone will increase the stock

size by 9% in terms of gross stock value. Unfortunately there is no commuted sum

agreement with the developer, and the adoption of these structures will place a significant

strain on the existing budgets. It is estimated that around £2M commuted sum would be

applicable over the life of these structures which Buckinghamshire County Council will have

to finance now from its own sources.



Page | 3

Asset Data

Structures inventory is held in BridgeStation database. Additionally location data is held in Symology to allow customer contact records to be attached appropriately.

The structures asset is expected to grow at a significantly higher rate in the medium term with the upcoming adoptions of large developments in the county, particularly at Berryfields Aylesbury where a large viaduct is currently under construction which will carry the development spine road plus another 20 smaller structures. The approximate asset value of these structures is £20M, which represents an increase in overall gross stock value of 9%, with an annual cost of inspecting and maintaining these structures estimated at £100,000 p.a.

Valuation







The depreciated value (approx. £29.4M for Buckinghamshire) has been calculated for the last 3 years with a consistent methodology nationally using the condition data gathered through the 2 yearly inspection cycle. The gross value of the stock is based on deck area multiplied by a cost per square metre to rebuild, adjusted by a number of factors related to various environmental issues including what obstacle is being crossed, whether it is urban or rural locations etc. The depreciated value uses the current condition of the structure to calculate a depreciation factor which is applied to the gross value. Although this value is not generated to estimate the actual amount of work required to bring all footways up to a good standard it is indicative of the scale of work required.

The current guidance on the valuation of structures involves considering condition and cost down at component level. This requires a substantial amount of information (around 18,000 pieces of data) to be identified and input into the structures database. It is intended that this piece of work will be undertaken in 2014-15, as part of the MTP bid for achieving Code of Practice compliance, but will mean that the valuation at component level is unlikely to be achievable until summer 2015.

Structures Category Total

Bridges & Subways 404

Footbridges 54

Culverts 129

Miscellaneous 10

Total 597


Gross Replacement Cost £255.3M

Depreciated Replacement Cost £225.9M

Depreciation £29.4M


Page | 4

Investment


Percentage (%)

Planned Maintenance Repairs – Revenue 370 29

Routine Maintenance Repairs – Revenue 78 6

Inspection Costs - Revenue 55 5

Miscellaneous costs - Revenue 29 2

Strengthening & Replacement - Capital 732 58

TOTAL 1264 100

2013-14 was the first year of receiving an additional 200k within planned maintenance to enable more schemes targeted at stabilising bridge stock condition to be undertaken. It is currently anticipated that this additional money will need to be funded year on year to stop the condition scores falling over the whole bridge stock. The capital budget consists of £400k base budget, £150k to complete the payment of money owed to Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead for the major repairs to the jointly owned A4 Maidenhead Bridge and £185k of money carried forward into 2013-14 from the previous years for works affected by land issues. The figure stated above does not include the budget set aside for the major maintenance works at Abbey Way Elevated structure as this has moved to a reserve account pending a decision on its future.


Page | 5

Condition

Structures Outstanding Work bank:

P1 Works P2 Works P3 Works Totals

Primary Roads 160,800 202,550 123,730 487,080

Non-Primary A Roads 7,850 199,075 2,224,135 2,431,060

B Roads 505,900 78,450 51,700 636,050

C Roads 7,875 240,500 122,130 370,505

U Roads 90,600 424,350 138,825 653,775

Culverts 8,750 272,100 91,600 372,450

Retaining walls 0 3,900 42,300 46,200

Cyclic Maintenance p.a. 20,596

Weak Bridge Monitoring p.a. 5,000

Assessments p.a. 15,000

781,775 1,420,925 2,794,420

Grand Maintenance Total (BCC stock only) 5,037,716

Non-BCC Bridge Works in capital programme 125,000

Grand Maintenance Total (incl. Non-BCC

stock) 5,162,716

The above table summarises the works identified to date as part of annual inspections.


Customer contact relating to Structures is relatively low compared to the other asset groups. This is due to the nature of the asset; its presence is generally not known by members of the public until there is a problem with it.

Customer contact does increase when large scale works are carried out on structures the following are examples of this type of work;

Chalfont St Peter – Ford Bridge Strengthening – Road closure issues, car parking issues, traffic

along the diversion route. Shops losing trades

Abbey Way Elevated Structure – noise issue below bridge deck (shops) when working on the

structure, i.e. breaking out. The structure is on a sensitive route hence needed careful planning with

street work team.

Marlow Suspension Bridge, Marlow – Some of the diversion route is in Highway Agency and Royal

Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead’s network hence need further consultation to avoid their planned

road work. Sensitive area as the bridge is also located next to a church.


Page | 6

Key Performance Indicators (extract from TRANstat sheets)

Average score of bridge stock condition

89.2%

Revenue highways structures Programme delivered on time 100.0%

Critical element score of bridge stock condition (i.e. Parapet & Deck integrity) 80.2%

Percentage of bridge stock not meeting carrying capacity 1.1%

Predictability of Time - Primavera Milestones achieved 100.0%

Correspondence 10-day acknowledge (including phone, web, letters and emails) tba

Correspondence 28-day/complete (including phone, web, letters and emails) tba

Summarise compliance

Schemes planned to complete in order to hit ‘Percentage of bridge stock not meeting carrying capacity’ target were delayed due to exceptionally high water levels encountered during the winter of 2013-14. Willowbank No.2 strengthening works could not complete due to fast and high water levels making it unsafe to put required scaffold in the water. Water Lane replacement has also been unable to start due to the site in Chesham being under water.



Abbey Way Elevated structure condition

Escalating repair costs Take decision to manage structure condition down over 20 year period

Increasing stock size More structures to inspect and maintain, meaning increased budgets required

Ensure commuted sums are a requirement for new developments

Increasing maintenance work bank

Works not tackled at an appropriate intervention level causing far more costly repairs in the future

Continue funding additional 200k per year for Planned Maintenance to stabilise stock condition

state of the asset - old.buckscc.gov.uk

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