Recently I interviewed Ralph Rio, Research Director at ARC Advisory Group about his recent paper, “Infrastructure: The Hidden Optimization Opportunity”. In the interview Ralph tells us that many infrastructure assets (roads, pipelines, bridges, power lines, etc) are taken for granted and that the maintenance strategy for these assets is generally “run-to-failure”. As we see in the video, many of these assets do literally run to failure. I’d say that the fire engine in the enormous sink hole would be viewed as a “catastrophe”! But perhaps a bridge collapse would be more catastrophic, not to mention the “inconvenience” to the citizens stuck in traffic because of it.

In difficult economic times, how do governments approach the maintenance of their infrastructures? Contrary to what you might think, Ralph tells us that in times of austerity, many governments are focused on implementing strategies that enable more efficient use of their resources……things like looking for multiple preventive maintenance activities that can be preformed in the same area of town at the same time. This not only maximizes the operational efficiencies of the government resources, it can also minimize the “inconvenience” to citizens…….whether we are talking about road work, bridge work, waste water pipelines, etc.

Instrumenting infrastructure assets with sensors and intelligent technologies can enhance preventive maintenance strategies to enable smarter cities. We learn in Ralph’s ugly bridge example that by installing strain gages, we can monitor and fix failing bridges before they become catastrophic. This is an important and timely area of focus based on the Department of Transportation’s estimate that there are 600,000 bridges in the US that are 42 years old (on average), with 1/3 over 50 years (the typical design limit). Unfortunately, as we’ve seen, ugly bridges can lead to catastrophes.

The recommendation Ralph leaves us with, whether you are in a government agency or a totally different industry, is to consider implementing a pilot program linking infrastructure assets with intelligent technologies. For a minimal pilot investment you can install sensors and experiment with monitoring to see how you might benefit from an intelligent infrastructure. Then based on your findings and budget, roll-out the solution more broadly.

Watch the entire video & learn about future ARC Advisory Group studies:

Register for the ARC Advisory Group “Infrastructure:  The Hidden Optimization Opportunity” analyst brief here.