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Maintenance

Each year Transit spends around 40 percent of its total budget on maintenance and operation of the state highway network. In some regions where fewer capital works are required the maintenance spend exceeds the capital spend.

Network Mgmt Areas
(43KB) Network Lengths
(11KB) Pavement Condition Report
(6.60MB) Annual Report 05/06
(3.82MB)

Management of Network Maintenance

At the highest level Transit's Maintenance and Operations targets are outlined in the Statement of Intent and their achievement reported in the Annual Report.

The national network is managed through 25 sub networks known as Network Management Areas (NMAs). There are three primary methods of procurement used to maintain and operate these sub networks:

  • Performance specified maintenance contracts. These are awarded for 10 years to one supplier who is responsible for all service provision on the sub network;
  • Hybrid contracts. These are awarded for 5 years and involve both a consultant and contractor working in a partnering arrangement to deliver services on the sub network;
  • "Traditional" contracts. These are awarded for varying terms and involve a consultant managing various suppliers to deliver physical works on the network, in a similar way to traditional road engineering construction contracts.

Expenditure on the Network

During the 2005/06 year Transit plans to spend $355 million on the maintenance and operation of the state highway network. Over a 10-year period the forecast expenditure is around $4,463 billion.

Traffic Use

Transit New Zealand has various methods by which traffic is monitored on the network. This includes approximately 80 continuously monitored sites, and over 1200 sites which are monitored on an infrequent basis. Information from all of these sites are reviewed annually and summarised under the State Highway Traffic Volumes section. Care needs to be taken in interpreting these figures to account for the nature of the data collection and interpretation process.

A national view of state highway traffic can be found on Transit's annual report.

Performance of the Network

Transit New Zealand (Transit) proactively manages the performance of its major asset - the 10,894 km of State Highway pavements and surfacings. Two methods are used for this at a strategic level:

  • Annual analysis of the current network condition by review of key performance indicators for pavements and surfacings (reviewing historic trends).
  • Annual analysis of future possible scenarios using pavement performance modelling techniques (predicting future trends).

The annual pavement condition report addresses the first issue. It presents condition data for the year ending 30 June 2006 together with data from previous years to assess the implications of historic trends. The report demonstrates the extent to which Transit is achieving its published performance targets, and highlights potential risk areas at the current pavement investment levels.

For predicting future performance Transit uses the dTIMS software as implemented by the RIMS group. This tool is used alongside engineering experience of the network to identify optimum future investment programmes. An annual report is published with the results of the latest analysis.

Both the above reports focus on pavement investment. Initiatives are in place to improve our reporting and prediction of corridor and other non-pavement asset requirements.

Network Changes

When a new section of state highway is added, removed or modified Transit updates a central network model. More

Relevant Manuals

The following manuals are relevant to Maintenance:

  • State Highway Control Manual
  • Location Referencing Management System Manual (LRMS)
  • State Highway Database Operation Manual (SHDOM)
  • State Highway Asset Management Manual (SHAMM)
  • Annual Plan Instructions Manual
  • Traffic Monitoring for State Highways Manual

Bailey Bridges

Since 1 July 2000, Transit's Bailey bridges have been available for commercial hire to all interested users, including private companies and individuals. Transit owns more than 3000 tonnes of Bailey bridge components. More

Bridge Inspections

Transit's bridge inspection programme assesses the condition of nearly 4000 state highway bridges.

Bridges undergo a general inspection every two years, with a more detailed inspection every six years. This is in keeping with international best practice for managing a large portfolio of bridges.

Some bridges are subject to an even more rigorous inspection programme for identifying and tracking changes in the condition of the bridge. For example, the Auckland Harbour Bridge is inspected annually.

Click on the links below for examples of bridge inspection reports.

Auckland Harbour Bridge PDF (6.843 MB)

Newmarket Viaduct PDF (3.19MB)

Kopu Bridge PDF (411 KB)

Tauranga Harbour Bridge PDF (1.11MB)

Maps

State highway network maps. More

High Speed Data (HSD) Survey Information

High Speed Pavement Condition surveys and SCRIM (skid resistance) surveys are undertaken annually on the entire state highway network. More