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
The coordinated activities we deliver to manage our assets 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 Framework
A structured approach that organisations use to manage their assets effectively and efficiently.
Asset Management Improvement Programme
A formal programme of activities that seeks to make positive improvements to management practices.
Asset Management Objective
High level objectives that reflect our business responsibilities and are aligned with our strategic objectives and priorities.
Asset Management Policy
Demonstrates commitment to asset management and summarises the principles adopted in applying asset management to achieve strategic objectives.
Asset Management Strategy
Long-term approach to management of the assets, derived from, and consistent with, the asset management policy.
Backlog
The monetary value of work required to close the gap between the current performance provided by an asset and the required performance.
Carriageway
The part of a road used by vehicular traffic.
Contract Price Fluctuation
An adjustment to the contract price to reflect changes in the cost of materials or labour during the contract period.
Decision Support Tool
Integrates data, models, and analytical tools to help solve complex problems and improve decision-making processes.
Defect
Represents a deterioration from the normal condition and causes an unintended hazard, nuisance, or danger to the users.
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.
Direct Emissions
Emissions that originate from activities owned or controlled by Transport Scotland.
Directorate
A section of Transport Scotland in charge of a particular activity.
Grip tester
A trailer-based device for measuring skidding resistance and gives instant readings of the skid resistance of the road surface being driven on.
Indirect Emissions
Emissions that do not originate from Transport Scotland but are related to our activities.
Information Management
A formal approach to the identification of information needs and the associated collection, storage, usage and maintenance of the information.
Intelligent Transport System
facilitate the monitoring, capturing and communication of traffic and travel information to road users 24 hours a day.
Investigatory Level
The point at which more detailed monitoring or investigation is appropriate, and to establish if and when remedial measures are required.
Life Cycle Plan
A considered strategy for managing an asset, or group of similar assets, from construction to disposal.
Machine Surveys
The use of specialised equipment and technology to collect data about physical environments, structures, or systems
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.
Monitoring Indicator
A numerical measure of service provision which does not have an associated Payment Adjustment Factor.
National Transport Strategy
Sets out a long-term ambitious vision for transport nationally to deliver our priorities of protecting our climate and improving the lives of people in Scotland.
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.
Patching
A maintenance process used to repair and restore the surface of a road that has been damaged or deteriorated.
Payment Adjustment Factor
Payments to Operating Companies may be reduced through PAFs in the event of underperformance against PIs, creating additional incentive to deliver work effectively. Higher adjustment factors are applied to PIs which reflect the most critical areas of the contract.
Performance Measure
A generic term used to describe a measure or indicator that reflects the condition and/or performance of an asset.
Retro-reflectivity
The property of a surface or material to reflect light back to its source, regardless of the angle at which the light hits it.
Risk Register
A central repository for all identified risks, detailing their nature, likelihood, impact, and the strategies for mitigating them.
Road Asset Management Plan
This document specifying activities and resources for implementing the asset management strategy and delivering the Asset Management Objectives.
Road User Satisfaction Measures
Road user surveys undertaken annually to identify priority areas for improvement and determine levels of satisfaction with the service.
Rutting
Surface depression in the wheel path of pavements
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
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.
Scour
Sediment such as sand and rocks from around bridge abutments or piers
Scour Management Strategy
A comprehensive plan designed to address and mitigate the effects of scour.
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, 150mm inlay) or the surface and sub layers (for example, strengthening or reconstruction).
Structural Maintenance (Structures)
Structural maintenance of structures 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 Work bank
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 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.
Vehicle Restraint System
Safety devices designed to prevent vehicles from leaving the carriageway.
Visual Condition Inspection
A method used to assess the state of an asset or structure by examining it with the naked eye or using basic visual aids.
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.
Winter Service
A 24-hour dedicated winter maintenance service that runs from October to May.