Page 10 - Road Maintenance Program 2022-23 | WashCo LUT

GLOSSARY

General Terms

Asset Management - The combination of management, financial, economic, engineering, information
technology and other practices applied to physical transportation assets with the objective of providing
the required level of service in the most cost-effective manner. Key concepts include asset inventory,
condition, risk, valuation, maintenance best practices and life cycle cost analysis.

Condition Assessment - A standardized physical inspection and rating of roadway assets to determine
the condition of individual assets, roadway sections or overall road networks.

Maintenance - A broad range of planned or unplanned activities for preserving the condition of
transportation assets over their operating lives so they may function the way they were originally
intended. Maintenance generally consists of (1) inspections, (2) preventive maintenance, (3) repairs, and
(4) rehabilitation.

Performance Indicator - A qualitative or quantitative measure of a service or activity used to compare
actual performance against a standard or other target. Commonly relates to statutory limits, safety,
responsiveness, cost, comfort, asset performance, reliability, efficiency, environmental protection, and
customer satisfaction.

Functional Failure - When an asset continues to operate but stops performing the way it was designed or
intended. This failure can be short-lived with the asset being restored to full capacity with the use of
limited resources. Functional failures can create minor disruptions to the system or increase the need for
additional maintenance to repair damages.

Catastrophic Failure - When an asset is destroyed creating a “life-safety” gap in the transportation
system. The typical solution for a catastrophic failure is constructing a new asset altogether or
performing a major rehabilitation on the existing asset. Understanding that failures of assets can occur,
the challenge for this agency is to keep the quantity and severity of functional failures to a minimum in
order to reduce the likelihood of a catastrophic failure.

Service Requests - The county receives requests for service on county roads from the public, other
agencies or county staff. These requests are put in a work order queue and addressed as resources
allow.