‘Bring in ten-year repair plans, shelve upgrades’

The highways sector should research how ten-year investment plans for maintenance can be implemented, road experts said this week.

A study of international best practice by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and the World Road Association says the UK should examine the Australian practice of ten-year plans.

Countries in Europe and Australasia “have fostered a culture to effectively manage pavements, often foregoing capacity improvements when forced to choose between [these] and maintenance,” say the report authors.

It also recommends research on Sweden’s approach to asset management, given that its approach has succeeded in “maintaining the network at a constant level even with reduced budgets”.

Sweden rents the road space to private contractors to incentivise them doing work right first time and has different service levels for six categories of roads including ‘major cities’ and ‘other important roads for business’.

Discuss the Future of Highways Delivery at LTT's event on the 27 June