Somerset adopts project-management approach for first TAMP

01 April 2009

Somerset County Council has approved its first transport asset management plan (TAMP), enabling it to capture on-site information from a wide variety of assets and link them into a comprehensive action framework.

The first version, which goes live this month, is only the first stage in a process of development. A key part of that will be capturing data from work on a wide variety of assets, and building on the established levels of service and budgets included in the 2009 plan.

‘We developed the TAMP on a project-management approach, and we intend to roll out further improvements,’ said asset and service improvement manager, David Jones. ‘It’s been an evolutionary rather than revolutionary process, but it’s identified where we believe the gaps are, and cross-cutting issues across the department in one package.’

The 2010 version will review service levels, identify performance gaps and review budgets. Continuing improvements are intended to raise the plan to ‘excellent’ standard in three years.

The county has 6,500km of highways and 6,000km of rights of way, but the plan has been drawn to include a wide range of assets, including pavement, bridges, signs, fencing, winter service and depots. An action plan for the first plan lays out a development programme and issues identified during its development, including a need to gather more information on cycleways, bridges, rights of way, and drainage.

‘We were aware of most of it, but it’s the first time we’ve combined it in one document,’ said Jones.

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