Glossary

Asset – Physical road infrastructure and other items that have a distinct value to the organisation. Assets owned include carriageway, footway, structures, lighting and drainage.

Asset Management – Asset management is the coordinated activities we use to manage our assets in order to maximise customer satisfaction, maintain high levels of safety, improve journey time reliability, manage risks, and enable delivery of our outcomes and priorities in the most efficient and sustainable manner.

Asset Management Improvement Programme – A formal programme of activities that seeks to make positive improvements to management practices.

Asset Management Objectives – High level objectives that reflect our business responsibilities, and are aligned with our strategic objectives and priorities.

Asset Valuation – The calculation of the current monetary value of an asset or group of assets. The calculated value is the Net Asset Value but it is normally referred to as the Asset Value.

Backlog – The monetary value of work required to close the gap between the current performance provided by an asset and the required performance.

Business Key Performance Measures – The asset maintenance and management business measures used by Transport Scotland.

Deflectograph – A self-contained lorry-mounted system, where a loaded wheel passes over the pavement, the pavement deflects and the size of the deflection is related to the strength (residual life) of the pavement layers and subgrade.

Information Management – A formal approach to the identification of information needs and the associated collection, storage, usage and maintenance of the information.

Investigatory Level – The point at which more detailed monitoring or investigation is appropriate, and to establish if and when remedial measures are required.

IRIS – Transport Scotland’s Integrated Road Information System which contains data on the physical characteristics and condition of the trunk road network.

Lifecycle Plan – A considered strategy for managing an asset, or group of similar assets, from construction to disposal.

Maintenance – Collective term used to describe all the activities and operations undertaken to manage and maintain road assets, for example, inspection, assessment, renewal, upgrade etc.

Operating Company – Private sector company who is contracted by Transport Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government to manage and maintain the trunk road network.

Performance Management Framework – A robust, transparent and repeatable process for recording, monitoring, analysing and reporting performance across a wide range of criteria. Links strategic and operational criteria.

Performance Measure – A generic term used to describe a measure or indicator that reflects the condition and/or performance of an asset.

Road Asset Management Plan – Document specifying activities and resources for implementing the asset management strategy and delivering the Asset Management Objectives.

Road Asset Management Policy – Demonstrates commitment to asset management and summarises the principles adopted in applying asset management to achieve strategic objectives.

Road Asset Management Strategy – Long-term approach to management of the assets, derived from, and consistent with, the asset management policy.

Road User Satisfaction Measures – Road user surveys undertaken annually to identify priority areas for improvement and determine levels of satisfaction with the service.

SCANNER – A machine-based survey that employs the use of an electronic ‘scanner’ to make a number of measurements that describe the condition of the road surface.

Scottish Government – Is the devolved government for Scotland, responsible for most of the issues of day-to-day concern to the people of Scotland, including health, education, justice, rural affairs and transport.

SCRIM – The SCRIM vehicle measures the friction between a tyre and the road under controlled slip conditions.

Stakeholder – An individual, group, body or organisation with a vested interest in the management of the transport network, for example, authority, owner, public, users, community, customers, shareholders and businesses.

Structural Maintenance (Carriageways) – Structural maintenance of carriageways rejuvenates the pavement by treating either the surface layers (for example, surface dressing) or the surface and sub layers (for example, strengthening or reconstruction).

Structural Maintenance (Structures) – Structures structural maintenance is defined as schemes that include the repair, renewal and replacement of structural elements or components that have become unserviceable through wear and tear or deteriorated with time and usage, or which have been damaged. Also the upgrading or replacement of structures to bring them up to current requirements.

Structures Workbank – A schedule of works and programmes that require action, having reached or close to their intervention point.

Transport Scotland – An agency of the Scottish Government with responsibility for the operation and management of the trunk road network.

Trunk Roads – The main strategic routes, including motorways.

Trunk Road Network – The system of motorways and trunk roads in Scotland.

Value Engineering – The development of optimal solutions for prioritised maintenance needs using option appraisal, whole life costing, scheme development, and synergies with other road schemes.

Value Management – A formalised process for assessing the benefits of undertaking work and the associated risks of not undertaking work, allowing competing needs to be objectively prioritised.

Whole Life Cost – The total cost of the asset over the term of its life including planning, design, construction, acquisition, operation, maintenance, rehabilitation and disposal.