Asset Management is a strategic approach to the optimal allocation of resources for the management, operation, maintenance, and preservation of transportation infrastructure (FHWA 1999). Asset Management combines engineering and economic principles with sound business practices to support decision-making at the strategic, network, and project levels.

One of the key aspects of the development of Asset Management is data collection. The way in which transportation agencies collect, store, and analyze data has evolved along with advances in technology, such as mobile computing (e.g., handheld computers, laptops, tablet notebooks, etc.), sensing (e.g., laser and digital cameras), and spatial technologies (e.g., global positioning systems [GPS], geographic information systems [GIS], and spatially enabled database management systems). These technologies have enhanced the data collection and integration procedures necessary to support the comprehensive analyses and evaluation processes needed for Asset Management (Flintsch et al. 2004).

In many cases, however, the data collection activities have not been designed specifically to support the decision processes inherent in Asset Management. As a result, the use of the aforementioned technologies has led agencies to collect huge amounts of data and create vast databases that have not always been useful or necessary for supporting decision processes.

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