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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Directorate of Civil Works is in the early stages of implementing infrastructure asset management principles to better manage its civil works infrastructure. This effort is being done, in part, in response to Executive Order 13327, which mandates a pragmatic and consistent approach to Federal agency management of real property. An understanding of how current inspection and condition assessment efforts support infrastructure asset management is needed if USACE is to move forward. The U.S. Army Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory was tasked with surveying a number of USACE District and Division personnel about their inspection and condition assessment practices and how that supports decisions related to infrastructure asset management. This report: (1) describes the demographics of the survey participants and explains the different approaches to condition assessment in use within USACE. (All rely on a deficiency-based approach, i.e., deviations from standards or from known benchmarks, to inspection.); (2) describes how inspection and condition information is used in developing work packages, budgeting, and prioritizing work, and also how inspection and condition information is reported for management; (3) provides recommendations for future opportunities that, if developed and adopted, would strengthen the process., The original document contains color images.

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (PL 89-665) requires federal agencies to minimize harm to properties eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. In accordance with this law, two restorations of the St. Johns River Lighthouse were done in the 1980s, which stabilized the tower's condition so that regular maintenance can prevent further deterioration of this historically important site. This study developed a preservation plan, including cost estimates, to help maintain the structure so that this cultural resource may someday be put back into productive use. A survey team from the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories (USACERL): (1) identified component and system failures and the causes of those failures, (2) developed a layaway plan to efficiently preserve the tower, and (3) provided a reference resource to maintain the lighthouse during layaway. Costs were estimated for: deactivation ($11 ,725); periodic inspection, maintenance, and repair ($ 1000/year); and reactivation ($10,850). The inspection and condition assessment showed the lighthouse to be in structurally sound and functionally adequate condition. Overall, the lighthouse has maintained its historic integrity; i.e., damages are mostly reversible. Minor distresses requiring immediate attention include cleaning the interior of the lighthouse and repairing the slate platform, metal ladder, and handrail around the top.

The U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (USA-CERL) is developing the RAILER Maintenance Management system for managing the inspection, evaluation, and repair of Army railroad networks. This guide focuses on RAILER I, an interim system whose capabilities support FORMAP-2, a multiyear rail rehabilitation program at U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) and National Guard installations. RAILER I consists of a set of data collection procedures and a computer program which will help Directorate of Engineering and Housing personnel locate and identify their installation's railroad assets, assess current network conditions, determine short- and long-term maintenance and repair (M&R) needs, and systematically plan M&R work. The last activity is assisted by the Forces Command Railroad Project Prioritization Program (FORPROP) , developed concurrently by USA-CERL. FORPROP uses data from RAILER to prioritize M&R efforts. This guide explains how to operate the RAILER I software. It includes instructions for entering data, updating data, and generating reports for the main trackage; for doing the same for related facilities data; and for preparing data for use in FORPROP. It also includes data collection forms at the end of each section to help illustrate their use. The development of RAILER I and its application to managing a railroad network are described in USA-CERL Technical Report M-88/18, The RAILER System for Management of U.S. Army Railroad Networks: RAILER I Description and Use. Keywords: Railroad maintenance, Cost analyses, Microcomputers.