PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The Management And Maintenance Of Trunk Road Network

The Management And Maintenance Of The Trunk Road Network

Introduction

Transport Scotland is responsible for the management and maintenance of the trunk road network in Scotland. The trunk road network is managed and maintained by private sector companies (Operating Companies) who are contracted by Transport Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government. They carry out day-to-day inspection, management, maintenance and repairs to the trunk road network under five to seven year contracts.

The Scottish trunk road network is separated into four areas: the North West, North East, South West and South East. Each area is managed and maintained under a separate contract. In addition, there are individual 'Design, Build, Finance and Operate' (DBFO) contracts for: (Brian Gray 2004, 53-78)

• the A74(M) from Junction 12 to the English Border

• the M77 from Junction 5 to Fenwick.

It is important that the road system is safe to use and well maintained, which is why it is routinely and cyclically inspected. Day-to-day work by the Operating Companies involves:

Structural maintenance of roads and bridges

• Inspection, maintenance and repair of the road surface, bridges and other structures

• Grass cutting and weed control

• Gully cleaning

• Salting and snow clearing

• Repair of street lighting and traffic signals

With more cars and heavy goods vehicles using our roads, it is essential to routinely inspect and survey the trunk road network to establish which sections of road are in most need of repair. This is why you will sometimes encounter roadwork's on your journey. (Brian Gray 2004, 53-78)

Explanation

Types of Maintenance on the Trunk Roads

Background

In the four overseeing countries, roads are called various things. In Scotland, a road is called a road; while in England it is called a highway. This terminology derives from the Acts of Parliament under which the overseeing organisations operate. For the purposes of this paper and the associated paper of “Categories Contained in the Road Network” the terms are interchangeable. (Brian Gray 2004, 53-78)

In the UK Central Government sector road maintenance is driven by operations. The length, size and component mix of roads has been developed in a way that maximises maintenance efficiencies as well as taking into account materiality levels. The maintenance contracts in place for our road surface, structures, communications and land are not only efficient, but they ensure continued economic benefit of every component. Efficiency, safety and continued economic benefit are key deliverables in every maintenance contract and therefore adoption of IAS16 has taken these aims into account. (Brian Gray 2004, 53-78)

In Scotland the maintenance arrangements on the Trunk road network are shown below. This note does not cover the work that is done to design and build larger (over £5M) improvement schemes. The responsibilities of the Overseeing Authorities are similar, however, the way each Authority carries out these responsibilities can be quite different. In Scotland, apart from works contracts and minor improvement schemes, the Operating Companies are responsible for not only monitoring and managing the trunk road, they are also responsible for undertaking some of the ...