Robert Baumgardner

Kuwait Infrastructure Maintenance Management System

To meet the infrastructure management challenges of the 21st century, the Kuwait Ministry of Public Works has launched a large-scale computerized, in-house Kuwait Infrastructure Maintenance Management System (KIMMS) to assist in the maintenance of the public works infrastructure on a nation wide basis. The system will provide access to accurate, up-to-date information on each infrastructure component allowing management to quickly assess performance, identify maintenance and rehabilitation requirements and develop short and long term budgets. The system is initially being implemented for roadways, bridges, sanitary and storm sewers and street right-of-way features. The system will help ensure that there will be adequate infrastructure to meet development needs and that the maintenance of this infrastructure is managed to provide for sustainable growth. The ArcView desk top mapping system is a key component of the KIMMS providing graphic query and display for integrated analysis and planning. Users can point and click on any infrastructure component or group of components and bring up the corresponding attribute files that show their characteristics, condition and maintenance status and history. The KIMMS ArcView interface allows users to query and display infrastructure components based on their physical and performance characteristics and on their maintenance status and history.

INTRODUCTION:

To meet the infrastructure management challenges of the 21st Century, the Maintenance Administration of the Kuwait Ministry of Public Works (MPW) has realized that using state of the art technologies and modern management techniques, including geographic information systems, is a must. Consequently, the Maintenance Administration (MA) has launched a massive and comprehensive program to implement a nation wide integrated infrastructure management system. The system will help ensure that there will be adequate infrastructure to meet development needs and that the maintenance of this infrastructure is managed to provide for sustainable growth. A two year contract was awarded to ITX Technologies of the USA to develop and implement the required system. The Maintenance Administration set the following requirements for the system: · Computers would be used for data storage and analysis to allow management to accurately and quickly assess the performance of infrastructure components, identify maintenance requirements, establish priority programs and plan short-term and long-term budget needs in a fully integrated manner at the national level. · A Geographic Information System (GIS) must be a component of the overall system to provide integrated analysis and maintenance planning on a nation wide basis. · State-of-the-art equipment would be used to evaluate the condition of the infrastructure components. · The system must ensure full coordination between MPW maintenance programs and the programs of other ministries to avoid any potential conflicts.

BACKGROUND:

The Maintenance Administration is responsible for maintaining the national highway network, storm water drainage system, all bridges and the nation's sanitary sewer network. The Administration also handles the maintenance of government buildings and the installation and maintenance of highway traffic signs. The highway and local street network is over 5,000 km in length of which about 300 km are freeways. The network contains more than 250 bridges and storm and sanitary sewer networks of about 5,000 km each. MPW follows a general strategy in which maintenance work is carried out through contracts awarded to the lowest bidders. The maintenance contracts cover the country's five governorates. Roads and sewers are maintained under separate contracts. Maintenance programs are executed by issuing work orders under each contract. Every work order covers a specific location and is executed during a predetermined time period. Work items covered under each work order are estimated on the basis of a detailed site investigation carried out by Maintenance Administration staff. Payments are made to contractors based on the work accomplished. PROJECT TEAM: In order to keep track of the progress of the project, the accomplishments of the consultant and to ensure that MPW personnel will be fully capable of operating the acquired system at the end of the two year effort, a Maintenance Administration project team was formed. In-house technical committees and work groups were formed to coordinate with the consultant and follow up on their work. Project technical advisors with extensive experience with the operations and policies of the Maintenance Administration were selected to act as coordinators between the in-house work groups and the consultant. Their role includes helping the consultant better understand the decision making process within Maintenance Administration so that the system is developed in a manner that meets MA's needs and local conditions. It was realized that training is crucial to the future operation of the completed system. Therefore, a comprehensive training program was made an integral part of the project. Training is planned to cover field data collection as well as software operation and data analysis. In addition to on-site training, the program includes site visits to maintenance departments operating similar systems in both the US and Canada.

GIS INTEGRATION:

ArcView is a critical components of the Kuwait IMMS. It provides a spatial index to all the infrastructure components and relates them to a common geographic base. It not only provides answers to basic location questions (e.g., where are the all the sewer pipes with a diameter greater than 500 mm), but also to more complex spatial queries (e.g., locate and display all those street segments to be rehabilitated within the next six months that have sewer line replacements planned within the next year). ArcView is linked to the IMMS infrastructure inventory and work management data bases. This allows maintenance personnel to develop integrated maintenance programs that take into account the spatial relationships between different types of infrastructure. ArcView allows for coordination between MPW and other Ministries and between different work groups within MPW. Before work is started in an area, ArcView can be used to determine comprehensively what infrastructure is there and where it is located. In addition, since the Kuwait IMMS links the maintenance history and plans to the map base, work planned in an area can be coordinated between different Ministries and work groups to be sure they don't conflict and are done in the proper sequence. ArcView can be used in an operational mode to graphically select particular infrastructure elements for maintenance and have work orders automatically generated for those elements selected. The condition and performance of various infrastructure can be displayed for analysis and presentation.

KUWAIT IMMS COMPONENTS:

The Kuwait IMMS is made up of a number of components integrated together on a common system platform. The components share a common user interface and are tightly linked at the data base level through a client/server approach. The following is a brief description of each Kuwait IMMS component:

ROADWAY SYSTEMS:

The Roadway Systems include the Pavement Management System (PMS), Bridge Management System (BMS) and Right-of-Way Features Management System (RFMS).

Pavement Management System (PMS) -

The PMS provides for a comprehensive inventory and condition assessment of the Kuwait road network. The module provides for maintenance and rehabilitation analysis and the development of priority programming. The PMS includes a comprehensive pavement database of: · Sectional attribute information - section location and ID number - pavement length, width and number of lanes - pavement layer thickness and type - traffic volumes, content and Equivalent Single Axle Loads (ESAL's) - drainage consideration, curb/gutter, shoulder information, etc. · Performance information - roughness, deflection, distress and skid resistance · Maintenance history data - rehabilitation work - (e.g., overlay and type) cost, contract date, etc., and - maintenance work - (e.g., crack sealing) cost, contract date, etc. The PMS also includes network analysis capabilities based on: · Smoothness of ride provided to users. · Ability of the pavement structure to carry the current and anticipated traffic loadings. · Occurrence of pavement defects, deformation and cracking; the extent of each and the level of severity. · Safety aspects resulting from skid resistance evaluation. The data are used to develop an overall Pavement Quality Index to allow for objective comparison of one section versus another, or as the basis for current status summaries and future performance predictions. Network-wide rehabilitation programming can be developed for up to 10 years in the future. The system identifies the sections in need of rehabilitation and the most cost-effective strategy to consider for each, based on the financial parameters provided by the user. An optimum plan and priority list is then determined for a specific budget.

Bridge Management System (BMS) -

The BMS is a management tool which helps to organize and implement all activities related to bridge maintenance, replacement and rehabilitation programs. The BMS assists decision makers by: · Maintaining all bridge inventory information · Defining bridge conditions · Identifying bridge needs · Identifying funding requirements for Maintenance, Replacement and Rehabilitation (MR&R) programs · Identifying and prioritizing bridges for MR&R programs · Identifying bridges for assessment · Finding cost-effective MR&R alternatives for each bridge · Recommending MR&R strategies · Accounting of MR&R strategies · Scheduling minor maintenance and inspections through the Work Management System (WMS). · Monitoring and rating bridges, and · Maintaining the appropriate database of information. The comprehensive database of the BMS stores information, on every bridge in the network and includes: · Structure Identification - number, location, type and name · Rating - according to local loading conditions · Environmental - precipitation and frequency · Strategic Importance - importance and vulnerability · Engineering Criteria - loading, type of construction and year, traffic volumes and year of, speed limit, length/width, clearance, etc. · Safety Criteria - approach width, weight limit, skew, sight distance, illumination, number of accidents, etc. · Secondary Information - historical significance, and · Condition - roadway approach, super-structure, substructure, intermediate supports, channel rating, estimated remaining life, etc. A prioritized listing of bridge maintenance and/or rehabilitation programs can be developed on an annual basis for a ten year period. The budget or schedules can be modified on a fix when need arises basis.

Right-of-Way Features Management System (RFMS) -

The RFMS addresses all features included in the streets right of way and typically includes: traffic signs, pavement markings, traffic signals, guard-rails, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and other roadway features. The RFMS outputs include condition, priority lists of work, and location details complete with costs that are provided through the Work Management System (WMS). The outputs can also be input into other systems (e.g., PMS) to identify peripheral activities such as the costs required to totally rehabilitate/maintain all features within the limits of a section. In conjunction with the WMS, the system will automatically establish inspection schedules.

UTILITY SYSTEMS:

The Utility Systems modules include the Sanitary Sewer Management System (SANS) and Storm Sewer Management System (STMS).

Sanitary Sewer Management System (SANS) -

The SANS provides information management, performance and condition analysis capabilities that evaluate the true level of need for a sanitary collection system through a series of engineering models. In this way, the Maintenance Administration managers can easily monitor and predict the sanitary sewer system maintenance levels and rehabilitation requirements. The SANS provides network analysis capabilities on a pipe by pipe basis, through condition/performance assessment based on the following parameters: · Structural Condition - considers the structural condition of a sanitary sewer system based on digital defect surveys utilizing closed circuit television cameras (CCTV). · Environmental Impact - considers the impact of extraneous flows caused by major rainfall events on the social and physical environment (basement flooding, sanitary sewer overflows to natural water courses, etc.). · Conformance to Standards - considers a sanitary sewer's conformance to present engineering standards (i.e. minimum pipe size, minimum slope). · Strategic Importance - considers the impact a pipe failure would have on the public. · Maintenance - considers the sanitary sewer's operational efficiency based on observed indications of potential high maintenance (i.e. roots, debris, grease). This data are blended to generate a Quality Index which reflects the combined needs of each section of the sewer network. The SANS establishes a benchmark for tracking the rate of structural deterioration of a sewer network. When combined with the WMS, performance feedback can also be provided, allowing operational expenditures to be more effectively planned to meet projected needs. Using the system outputs, multi-year optimum priority programs for a predetermined set of annual budgets can be developed. Alternatively, annual budget requirements can be determined to effectively maintain and rehabilitate sanitary sewer networks.

Storm Sewer Network Management System (STMS) -

Similar to the SANS, the STMS provides information management, performance and condition analysis capabilities for storm sewer networks as well as defined open channels.

SYSTEM INTEGRATION:

Inherent in the design and implementation of an IMMS is the identification of a common systems platform that can support and bind together the various component system features required. The Kuwait IMMS provides for a common user interface across all its components (PMS, BMS, RFMS, SANS and STMS] and a tight linking of the data base through a client/ server approach, The Work Management System (WMS) and the Mapping Module are the two major system integration components upon which the IMMS integration is built. The WMS is activity based and supports the day-to-day work deployment and work performance analysis requirements for the IMMS component systems. The mapping module provides a common spatial user interface to all component systems (PMS, BMS, RFMS, SANS and STMS) and addresses all the spatial data management issues including links to ArcView. A description of these two major system integration modules upon which the IMMS is built are as follows:

WORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (WMS):

The WMS is a core component of the Kuwait IMMS. Each of the component parts of the IMMS (PMS, SANS, STMS and RFMS) are linked to and operate with the WMS. Projects created by each component part of the IMMS may be transferred to the WMS. WMS is then utilized to order the work, assign contractors and/or in-house crews, track the schedule of the work and track the cost of the work against standards and/or budgets. When the work is completed, this information is transferred to the appropriate IMMS component system so that the list of pending projects can be adjusted. The WMS provides for monitoring, analyzing and optimizing daily maintenance and operational activities carried out by various maintenance crews responsible (in-house or contract) for the roadway and utility systems. It issues the work orders, payment certificates and other forms meeting the requirements of the MPW. The WMS consists of the following key modules which are discussed in detail following:

Service Request Management Module -

This module assists in the gathering of information from service requests initiated either by the public or internally within the MPW. It provides the ability to log public service requests, track complaints, and initiate/dispatch work assignments. The Windows-based system allows for easy entry and review of service requests. The user can quickly assign a pre-defined response letter and review historical information related to service requests. Key service request information can be automatically transferred to the Work Order Management Module if the request warrants the creation of a work order. Work order information can be copied to the Service Request Management Module, confirming that a work order has been generated and that a request is being responded to by the appropriate personnel or contractor.

Program Planning Module-

The purpose of this module is to assist MPW Operations personnel in the development of maintenance programs for scheduled (preventative) and unscheduled activities as well as to schedule periodic inspection activities.

Work Order Management Module -

The purpose of this module is to track and report on the work performed, resources used and activity status on all infrastructure. The module manages both scheduled and unscheduled work activity. Work orders are generated for user defined groups or as individual work orders for each component or structure or collection components through the assembly of projects. Work orders may be cross-referenced to address street names, cross-streets, maps, etc. This module also produces payment certificates and other documents related to the work. Work order related information can be accessed from the inventory screens for each component structure. The work order information that can be displayed includes: scheduled or preventative maintenance, unscheduled maintenance, open work orders and work order history. Preventative maintenance activities as well as periodic inspections can be automatically scheduled. Preventative maintenance can be scheduled over a user defined time interval.

Work Load Analysis Module -

The purpose of this module is to provide the necessary tools to analyze key activity performance information obtained through completed work orders. A cost accounting summary provides the user with instantaneous access to key operational performance information such as work cost efficiency for a specific job task. This powerful activity and performance feedback tool allows the user to quickly and easily evaluate the multitude of individual job activities being performed for the various infrastructure networks. Work costs are automatically recorded against budgets and graphic displays indicate the budget status at any given time.

Historical Management Module -

The purpose of this module is to provide controlled archiving of the work order data as well as summarize key structure related data such as repair orders or test results. This information is stored on-line for subsequent use by the various infrastructure condition analysis modules as well as for summarizing work performed by various contractors and/or work crews.

WMS Linkage to ArcView -

The WMS is also linked to the ArcView desktop mapping system so vital information may be analyzed and displayed including:

MAPPING MODULE:

In order to fully utilize the IMMS along with it's individual components (pavement management, bridge management, right-of-way management, sanitary sewer management, storm sewer management and work management), the system provides for interfaces with major GIS systems including ArcInfo and ArcView. The KIMMS is designed to be closely integrated with ArcView to allow the GIS to maintain location information and to provide for graphic query and display of infrastructure description, condition and performance information.

Geographic Information System -

Each of the individual infrastructure components are linked to ArcView which serves as the common geographic information system for the Kuwait IMMS. Available infrastructure inventory and attribute data from existing map bases such as the Kuwait Data Information Management System (KUDAMS) are being electronically ported to the IMMS to serve as base attribute information. In addition to the existing utility spatial files, a street center line file has been generated and linked for mapping access and thematic display of pavement and other infrastructure information. The KUDAMS right-of-way and edge-of-pavement coverage have been used to generate the center line file. Upon completion of data collection, data conversion and analysis, the electronic record of present condition will also be ported to ArcView. Using ArcView the user can query and view both the physical attribute and condition information for each part of the infrastructure system. Through the integration process, all of the components may be viewed on one map so that integrated projects may be developed for maintenance and rehabilitation of the infrastructure.

Robert Baumgardner
Project Engineer
ITX Technologies/Soor Engineering Bureau
PO Box 4748
Safat, 13048 Kuwait
Kuwait Telephone: 965-252-5310
Kuwait Fax: 965-252-5410
US Telephone: 206-313-5805 US Fax: 206-313-5804 Internet: kuwreb@aol.com