COUNTRY | United Arab Emirates
REGION | Asia
SECTOR | transport
QII Principles | Principle 1 Sustainable Growth & Development, Principle 2 Economic Efficiency, Principle 3 Environmental Considerations, Principle 5 Building Resilience, Principle 6 Infrastructure Governance
QII Sub-Principles | 1: SDGs, 1: Wider economic benefits, 2: Life-cycle costing, 2: Operation and maintenance, 2: Technological innovation, 2: Risk management, 4: Resilience, 4: Disaster risk management, 4: Disaster risk insurance, 6: Access to information and data, 6: Transparency of infrastructure investment
Overview
Size: All Federal Structures that have been included in the inventory are covered by the Index
Parties involved (public and private): UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, University of Sharjah.
Relevant contractual details (type, length etc.): MOU / One Year (2016)
Context: Safety and sustainability of existing bridges require rational bridge management systems to recommend Maintenance, Repair and Replacement (MR&R) actions.
Different methodologies are used in different countries along with bridge inspection manuals to help in determining representative indices to reflect conditions of the different bridges in a network. In this framework, following the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure's effort to continually optimize infrastructure costs, and to leverage technology use in infrastructure projects as much as possible to further bolster the UAE's strong infrastructure status, the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in collaboration with the University of Sharjah designed the "Advanced Bridge Condition Assessment Index" in August 2017. The Index provides an overall rating based on the structural material of the bridge.
Aim(s) of the project: The initiative aims to develop an index that can indicate the condition of a bridge and give an estimation of its current situation. It follows an algorithm to independently assess every material used in the construction of the bridge to predict the maintenance needs and prevent failure in construction.
Timeline
Key dates including procurement, construction, operations:
The development study including the algorithms have been done in 2016, the application has been completed in 2017 and the index is used till date and recalculated periodically.
Relevance to QII
The index forms an enabling environment for infrastructure efficiency by providing a solid monitoring tool for the bridges in the UAE. It provides data on the current infrastructure stock and promotes transparency. The project also provides wider benefits by increasing the economic life of the bridges by optimal use and maintenance, and thus provides environmental benefits.
Benefits
Expected and realised benefits: It is essential to assess conditions of the different elements of a bridge in order to develop an overall rating that best describes current condition of the bridge and indicates urgency for intervention. Condition index is therefore an important assessment tool to guide the decision-making process. The indicator is expected to reduce the bridge maintenance costs to 1/3 of its current level.
Metrics
According to the general practice of Bridge inspections which is carried out every 3 years, The initial inspection has been done in 2017, and by the end of 2020 the results of the intended inspection will be finalized, therefore the process will be linked to a new proposed KPI that will be included in the strategic plan of the ministry.
Name of Institution
Ministry of Finance, UAE