Linemarking

Asset Management Plan –Line Marking

Line Marking

Wagga Wagga City Council // Asset Management Plan // Line Marking// Page 2

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).

Size of the NetworkApproximately 392km of Council’s sealed road network is line marked. This line marking is located throughout the city of Wagga Wagga, in the nine rural villages and throughout the rural areas of the Local Government Area (LGA).

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 Excellent Dark Green

2 Good Green

3 Average Yellow

4 Poor Orange

5 Very Poor Red

Map – ConditionThe following map indicates the condition of line marking from excellent to very poor across the Wagga Wagga LGA and the table highlights the proportion of the network in each condition.

Excellent 33.3% 130.5km

Good 47.5% 186.1km

Average 12.3% 48.1km

Poor 2.6% 10km

Very Poor 4.4% 17.4km

1 Current Asset Base

Line Marking

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Challenges of the NetworkAs with sealed and unsealed roads the line marking network is spread across the entire Wagga Wagga LGA, the distance involved makes moving work crews and machinery around the network a challenge.

The lifespan of line marking is short and also varies depending on the traffic volume of the sealed road. This presents challenges to the management of the network.

As this asset is on the road reserve there are traffic management and specific occupational health and safety issues which need to be considered when work is being performed.

Line Marking

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Condition Ratings Reference SheetThe condition of line markings is audited against a rating scale which ranges from excellent to very poor. This scale is used as the basis of all assessments of line markings by Council’s Surveillance Team. The rating scale forms the Condition Rating Reference Sheet below.

2 Condition Assessment

Line Marking

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Risk Ratings IndicatorsCouncil uses Risk 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 indicators consider the risk the condition of the asset poses to the community based on location, road classification and estimated pedestrian and traffic volumes. The following table details the Risk Rating Indicators for the line marking network.

Line Marking Risk Rating Indicators - Based on Location and Road Type

Weighting Location

1.2 Commercial Precincts (Central Business District, shopping malls)

1.1 Community Precincts (schools, churches, hospitals, clubs, community centres)

1.0 Residential Areas

Weighting Road Type

1.3 Arterial Road or Highway

1.2 Sub Arterial/Regional Road

1.1 Collector/Distributor Road

1.0 Residential Road

The results of the Risk Rating Indicators analysis are combined to give an individual section of asset a Works Schedule Priority Rating. For example a section of line marking could be rated as follows.

Line Marking XYZ

Location (L) 1.1

Road Type (RT) 1.2

Works Schedule Priority Rating Formula

L x RT

Works Schedule Priority Rating 1.2 x 1.1 = 1.2

Line Marking

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Intervention LevelsTo guide Council’s response to customer requests a set of reactive triggers has been developed for most asset categories. These triggers are called intervention levels and include expected response times. The intervention levels for the line marking network are driven by the condition of the section of the infrastructure asset. The response times directly relate to the risk rating indicators, the line marking sections with the poorest condition and the highest risk rating will have the shortest response times.

Condition Inspection RegimeThe condition and risk of the line marking network will be assessed simultaneously as part of the Condition Inspection Regime. This inspection will audit the condition of the section of line marking against the Condition Rating Reference Sheet and also assess the risk based on location and usage. The entire line marking network will be audited every year.

The inspections will be in the form of a GPS audit routine for all line marking in the Wagga Wagga LGA. The inspections will identify the visibility andfading of the line markings.

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).

Line Marking

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3 Life Cycle ManagementLife cycle management details how Council plans to manage and operate the asset category at the agreed level of service while minimising life cycle coststhroughout 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.

Line Marking

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Target Maintenance EventsThe line marking network is renewed rather than maintained to improve the condition of the asset base. For this reason, target maintenance events for the line marking network are not included in this Asset Management Plan.

RenewalA detailed work plan for the renewal of the line marking on the road network is developed annually to support this Asset Management Plan. This renewal program is prioritised based on condition and risk.

DisposalLine marking tends to deteriorate on the road surface and therefore has no disposal costs.

Occasionally the line needs to be disposed, in which case it is blacked out in the line marking process. Council currently includes this cost in the unit rate of line marking. 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 type.

Line Marking

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4 Level of ServiceThe 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.

Line Marking

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5 Financial Considerations

Current LiabilityThe following graph details the proportion of the line marking 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 for the line marking network is estimated to be $25,665 (in 2010 dollars). The following table provides the details of the line markingcurrent liability.

Asset Condition Amount Estimated Cost in 2010 dollars

4 – Poor 10km $10,148

5 – Very Poor 17.4km $15,517

Total Current Liability 27.4km $25,665

Project Annual Maintenance CostsAs there are no maintenance activities for line marking, only renewal, the costs associated with ensuring the condition of this infrastructure is satisfactory are included in the current liability of the network.

Line Marking

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6 AssumptionsThere 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 linemarking network:

Line marking has an estimated useful life of three years, however it may be shorter than this if the sealed road has high traffic volumes.

The target for renewal of the line marking network should be one third of the network annually on average.

The condition of line marking is rated in relation to the paint and the reflectivity of the line.

This Section of the Asset Management Plan does not include all road markings, it doesn’t include turning arrows, bike path markings, school zone markings or pedestrian crossings. As Council’s asset register develops to include these asset types they will be included in future versions of this Asset Management Plan.

It is important to note that there is not 392km of line marking in the Wagga Wagga LGA. There are 392km of sealed roads with line marking. As Council continuously improves their asset management the size of the line marking network will be captured and included in future versions of this Asset Management Plan.