Comprehensive Data Collection to Support Asset Management at Virginia Department of Transportation

In 1996 the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) initiated an Inventory and Condition Assessment System (ICAS) project, designed to collect inventory, condition, and location information for a comprehensive set of assets and allow this information to be stored, accessed, and used in strategic and tactical day-to-day asset management decision making. ICAS requirements included an accurate and complete inventory of roadway infrastructure assets (number and description), an accurate location of these assets (georeferenced through global positioning satellites), an assessment of their condition (damaged, blocked, rusted, etc.), and a central relational database to store the collected information. The project encompassed all roadway assets within highway fence-line boundaries. VDOT used a prime contractor and team of subcontractors to perform data collection and systems development. The ICAS project concluded in November 2002, and the following deliverables were received and accepted by the agency: a complete inventory of highway-maintainable assets in three counties, a comprehensive data dictionary, a process for the consistent measurement of asset conditions, a statewide process for managing asset information, modern information technology tools to access the information, tools to support use of multiple location-reference systems, and statewide centerlines for the entire highway network. The results achieved and lessons learned from this complex project are documented.