LCRIG Content Director Alec Peachey is conducting a series of interviews with highways professionals from councils to shine a light on some of the challenges facing local highway authorities. This week, Mike Hansford, Highways Asset Manager at Dorset Council, reflects on how the authority is utilising innovation to ensure that the investments it makes are targeted and in-line with its risk-based approach.
Q. What is the scale of the network that your authority is responsible for?
A. “3,800km of carriageway.”
Q. What are the biggest challenges facing you as a local authority?
A. “The biggest challenge to the council is available funding, in what is a difficult financial climate, exacerbated by the effects of Covid-19. All at a time when demand seems to be increasing. We are fortunate to have very engaging and supportive councillors and portfolio holder/lead members for highways. We have a well-established Highways Asset Management Plan (HAMP), and we have filled knowledge gaps linked to asset inventory and condition across most asset groups, therefore have a good understanding of future investment requirements. Reductions to revenue funding is also challenging, as this funds essential highway maintenance activities, which have reduced or in some cases ceased completely. Recruiting and retaining skilled staff is another challenge for the authority, and we have responded to this through a personal development programme which consists of classroom, online, and on the job training, focused on critical roles.”
Q. How has your highways team adapted to the challenges brought about by Covid-19?
A. “Our highways team, which includes our in-house workforce, has continued to operate business as usual, and has supported shielding calls, and coordinating PPE deliveries, and meals/prescriptions to vulnerable people who were shielding.
“We have continuity plans that enable us to deliver our services when various external factors arise. In collaboration with emergency planning colleagues, we regularly carry out contingency exercises that have included major weather events, fuel shortages, and a major incident at County Hall. In the year before Covid struck, we had carried out a theoretical exercise to see how our organisation would deliver in a climate of pandemic flu, so we were able to enact this continuity plan when the actual pandemic unfolded.”
Q. How much importance is put on innovation within your authority and in what ways can it enable change?
A. “Innovation is very important in Dorset and is at the heart of the efficiencies we are making. Digital transformation through data led decision making is a good example, changing the way we survey our carriageway assets to establish condition, using AI technology. Then using asset management systems to conduct the data analysis, to ensure investment is targeted, in line with our risk–based approach. Using innovative techniques, we are filling knowledge gaps in inventory and condition of other highway assets too. We are still challenging currents methods of, for example, pothole repair techniques and trialling innovative solutions and materials.”
Q. In what ways do you collaborate with other authorities and the supply chain?
A. “We ourselves hold ISO 44001 collaboration accreditation. We believe we are the only local authority to hold this directly, rather than through a partner, which we are very proud of. This accreditation is linked to our close strategic partnerships with Hanson Contracting, WJ Roadmarkings and other contractors, through our mixed economy delivery model. This includes embedded staff, joint working groups/initiatives and regular board meetings. These partnerships allow us to quickly mobilise, when for example; additional funds are made available, to progress additional programmes of work. They also deliver financial savings when compared to external contracts.
“We work closely with other south west authorities through the South West Highways Alliance, in which I’m proud to Chair the Regional Asset Management Group. This involves regular meetings where we progress joint projects, share information, and learn from other authorities, whilst seeking opportunities for joint procurement exercises and training. We have joint contracts in place for condition surveys, road surface treatments, and road markings/studs, which deliver monetary efficiencies. I’m also honoured to represent the SWHA on the UK Roads Liaison Group Asset Management Board, in which we work collaboratively on a number of national projects, which supports the highways industry.”
Q. How important is the subject of the environment and what are you doing as an authority in this area?
A. “Dorset Council has declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency, and has produced a Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy which is now subject to consultation. We are seeking feedback from stakeholders which will feed into future plans.
“Within highways we are already working with strategic partners; Hanson Contracting and Allasso, to recycle materials, processing asphalt waste which is fed back into road resurfacing schemes. Also in conjunction with Hanson Contracting we are using low energy asphalts in resurfacing schemes, and have produced an App with which we monitor carbon saved through remote working. We are also working with WJ Roadmarkings on four additional KPIs to monitor the environmental impact of our joint service provision.
“Maintenance strategies documented in our revised HAMP, also support Dorset Council priorities linked to climate impacts, and promote early life interventions to extend asset life.”
Q. In terms of funding for roads, what works well and what needs to be improved?
A. “Longer term commitments to funding help us to plan our investment strategies. So the six year commitment from 2015/16 – 2020/21 was really useful. As we build on our asset knowledge across all asset groups, we are identifying future investment requirements which our decision makers can then consider longer term investment strategies.
“Revenue funding continues to be a challenge. In Dorset our net revenue budget has reduced from £12 million in 2009, to £3.5m in 2020/21. This significantly impacts on our ability to conduct proactive cyclic and reactive maintenance, which to me are the fundamentals of highway maintenance.”
Q. How important is the role of LCRIG in driving change within the sector?
A. “LCRIG is a national platform to communicate and share good practice and innovations, therefore is really important to us. There does feel like a togetherness in the industry, and we recognise that we all have similar challenges, and are prepared to share our experiences (good and bad) and learn from each other, and LCRIG provides a platform to achieve this. LCRIG also links local highway authorities to innovations in the private sector and creating awareness of new methods, machines and materials.”