Richards, Chad

Chad Richards is a Sr Technical Manager with Atkins and is based in Houston, Texas. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas and Florida, a...

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About Richards, Chad

Chad Richards is a Sr Technical Manager with Atkins and is based in Houston, Texas. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas and Florida, a certified floodplain manager in Texas, and a certified professional in stormwater quality. He manages a team of 36 professionals within Atkins water resources practice in the Central US primarily in Texas and Colorado. He has assisted public and private clients with a wide range of projects including watershed planning, stormwater and best management practice design, asset management, and stormwater quality management.

Richards, Chad

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Description: Comprehensive Asset Management Program Development for Flood Risk Infrastructure in...

Comprehensive Asset Management Program Development for Flood Risk Infrastructure in Harris County, Texas

Abstract

Introduction
The Harris County Flood Control District (District) initiated a comprehensive asset management (AM) program that is changing their approach to operating, maintaining, and investing in infrastructure assets that reduce the risk of flood damage to Harris County, Texas. The AM program requires business transformation throughout the District's organization that will drive operations and maintenance (O&M) and capital investment decision-based activities. The program is intended to be a living and actionable strategy that allows for continuous improvement as the organization grows and the program matures. The District is using a phased approach for the development of the AM program. The initial phase (Phase I) of the project, which was completed between March 2021 and August 2021, developed interim AM program components and demonstrated the AM program approach applied to concrete-lined channels (Figures 1 and 2) which are a subset of the District's overall asset portfolio. Phase I formulated and documented the District's AM Policy, formulated elements of a first-generation Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) and developed preliminary long-term maintenance and capital renewal estimates for concrete-lined channels included in federal and non-federal Channels Inspection Reports. The project team documented the Phase I efforts and findings and outlined anticipated future efforts in an interim report. The second phase of the project (Phase II) is focused on further developing the AM program while approximating long-term maintenance requirements for as many District assets as possible to support the District's maintenance budget request for the upcoming two fiscal years. Phase II will be completed by September 2023. AM program development is following best practices established through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 55000 series of standards for AM. This presentation will provide a summary of the Phase I efforts and results. The presentation will also provide a detail the planned Phase II efforts and status to date which is anticipated to include a discussion of asset inventory, inspection methods, and the District's current approach to long term maintenance cost estimating. Phase I - Interim Development As an initial step to implementation, the project team developed interim policies and strategies, initiated cross-organizational buy-in, developed an improved asset hierarchy (Figure 3) and created an asset registry associated with concrete-lined channels (Figure 4). A cornerstone of AM program, the risk framework, was also developed. The risk framework is anticipated to be used in the District's decision criteria to prioritize major maintenance projects, where, with all other factors equal, assets with a higher risk will be first in line to be repaired or replaced. The interim framework was based on five risk criteria for promoting an equitable application of maintenance funding: social vulnerability, historic structural flooding, channel level of service, development age, and development intensity. These five criteria were used to measure risk and to apply a total risk score to assets associated with concrete-lined channels (Figure 5). Phase I - Results For the interim phase, program outcomes were demonstrated by performing life cycle cost modeling for the District's approximately 140 miles of concrete-lined channel. The estimated cost to replace these District-owned assets 'in-kind' was approximately $1.098 billion as determined by planning-level replacement costs using attributes from the asset registry and District pay items and unit costs. The life cycle cost modeling simulated the concrete-lined channel assets over a 100-year period with funding scenarios that included major maintenance, vegetation management, and end of life renewal. Four different funding scenarios were simulated to demonstrate funding requirements needed to achieve various average long-term performance levels (conditions) of the concrete-lined channel assets in the model. The interim results (Table 1) demonstrated that while an annual O&M budget of $14M will maintain the concrete-lined channel assets in a 'Very Poor' condition, an annual $34M O&M budget will maintain the concrete-lined channel assets in a 'Good' condition over the long-term. The interim results provide an example of life cycle cost modeling results that are anticipated to be used to both optimize available O&M funding and to routinely evaluate various O&M budget levels and their resulting long-term effects on the condition of the District's asset portfolio.

Phase II - Current Activities
The project team is currently evaluating District assets associated with their open channel network for three watersheds: Little Cypress Creek, Halls Bayou, and Vince Bayou (Figure 6). District assets associated with these open channel networks include channel, outfall, manhole, inlet, conduit, and control structure assets. For these watersheds and associated open channel assets, the project team is developing a detailed AM register of assets, preparing a condition assessment framework based on industry best practice, conducting field inspection/condition assessment activities, developing long-term maintenance estimates, and identifying maintenance projects for 2 fiscal years. The current effort will test and further define future approaches to the District's AM program. The presentation will provide a detail the planned Phase II efforts and status to date which is anticipated to include a discussion of asset inventory, inspection methods, and the District's current approach to long term maintenance cost estimating.

Results and Conclusions
The AM program is shifting the District's current approach of estimating future maintenance costs based on past expenditures to a forward-looking approach based on accurate and up-to-date District asset data. The approach allows the District to optimize application of available O&M funding to achieve the best long-term condition of District assets. The program also provides a method to routinely evaluate various O&M budget levels and their resulting long-term effects on the condition of the District's asset portfolio. The results of the program will allow decision makers to plan future O&M budgets based on desired asset condition and available funding.

This paper was presented at the WEF Stormwater Summit, June 27-29, 2023.

SpeakerRichards, Chad

Presentation time

13:30:00

14:00:00

Session time

13:30:00

16:45:00

SessionSession 04: Stormwater Asset Management

Session number04

Session locationKansas City Convention Center

TopicStormwater Asset Management, Innovation and Technology in Stormwater Management

Author(s)

Richards, Chad

Author(s)C. Richards1; B. Sachtleben1;

Author affiliation(s)Atkins North America1;

SourceProceedings of the Water Environment Federation

Document typeConference Paper

PublisherWater Environment Federation

Print publication date Jun 2023

DOI10.2175/193864718825158949

Volume / Issue

Content sourceStormwater

Word count14

Base text size -

Richards, Chad

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