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Building Equity into the
Design Process
OPERATION
During the Operation phase the engineer should ensure:
(1) Formulate a Maintenance Plan
The maintenance plan not only ensures that the project is maintained, but it also helps to extend the use life of the project. As the engineer you might oversee the hiring and or training of people to monitor, inspect, clean, repair and upgrade the project over time.
"Road maintenance on I-275" by sylvar is licensed under CC BY 2.0
(2) Monitor the Project's Value Over Time
It is also important to understand how the value of the project might change over the passing of time. This value could be monetary, e.g. labor requirements, continued funding or public safety, but it should also include cultural value, e.g. public space, resources derived from a library, or a landmark.
"Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown Manhattan, and Freedom Tower, golden hour" by John Cunniff is licensed under CC BY 2.0
(3) Create a Long-Term Plan
A long term plan might include a strategy for restoration of the project in the future. If restoration might not be a viable option, it could be that the project becomes repurposed into something else for minimal cost, e.g. rails to trails - were unused rail is converted into hiking or cycling trails. At the last resort demolition might need to be used if there is not other use that can be found for the project.
"Rails to Trails Hall-of-Fame sign" by daveynin is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Back to Hoo City
PIEDMONT ENGINEERING SERVICES
Watch the first few minutes of this video to see the issues experienced by the citizens of Hoo City documented on infrastructure elsewhere.
Shortly after the operation of the new highway in Hoo City, citizens began informing the State of issues that they were experiencing with the road surface. Primarily this was with a rapid appearance of potholes, and subsequent damage to their vehicles, on the new highway. After a lack of action from SDOT in filling in the potholes, citizens worry, like in the case of Oakland, that they will be left to take repairs into their own hands. Luckily, after some time, SDOT organized a press conference to inform the public that the road surface would need to be repaved. This was due to a construction issue that reduced the strength of the road surface. Fortunately, the repairs of this issue were covered under the warranty on the road provided by the contractor. Unfortunately, the road will need to be repaired, requiring lane closures that will elicit traffic slowdowns.
After a few more months of work, the highway is fully open and and operating again.
A number of things, for example:
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Material testing on the roadway.
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Material testing from the supplier.
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Material testing at the testing site.
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Site inspection to ensure proper installation techniques are being followed.
So, how might this issue have been caught issue sooner?
Let's find out! >>
While this type of issue is not desired, it speaks to the need for project teams to monitor and evaluate their project and project methods, long after the project is completed. This type of analysis after the fact allows for changes to be made to the project, if it is not working as planned, and the methods used to develop the project, if they were unable to meet the needs of the various stakeholders.