Use of Geotechnical Asset Data Within Highways England: The Journey so Far and the Future

Abstract

Highways England is the government company charged with operating, maintaining and improving England’s main arterial roads. It is responsible for around 6,880 km of highway, which carry a third of all traffic by distance travelled and two thirds of all heavy goods traffic in England. It needs to manage and deliver £15 billion of investment between 2015 and 2020, of which £11 billion is capital funding. Highways England has identified four primary civils asset groups for particular asset management focus: pavements, structures, earthworks and drainage. To manage its assets Highways England has invested in asset information management systems to record data, so that it can use the information to enable informed decision making. The asset information system for geotechnical assets has been operational since 2002 and it is used on a daily basis by Highways England staff and its supply chain. Standards and technology have advanced since then and Highways England is currently running a programme to ensure that the system and the information it requires is fit for purpose for the next investment period (up to 2025). This paper describes how Highways England uses geotechnical data in its asset management processes, including data capture, governance, reporting and decision making. It will help organisations who are starting out on the path of geotechnical asset management and provide an insight into the opportunities that current technology can provide with respect to interoperability and informed decision making.