6.6.3.6
Investment Strategies
As described in Chapter 5 of this guide, investment strategies establish a long-term plan for how the agency will apply its resources to achieve its asset management objectives. Agencies typically develop investment strategies through a scenario-based planning process. In this process the agency evaluates costs and benefits of different investment scenarios to choose the most appropriate. Since the majority of TAM funding comes through capital programming that has traditionally been the focus of investment strategy development, incorporating maintenance costs and benefits into this process may require incorporation of additional performance measures, such as those established through Maintenance Quality Assurance (MQA). MQA performance measures are often more directly related to investments in maintenance activities, whether through in-house crews or contracts. NCHRP Report 1076, Guide for Incorporating Maintenance Costs into a TAMP suggests the following steps for developing investment strategies that fully incorporate maintenance investments and benefits (Allen et. al. 2023).
- Define the role of maintenance in each scenario.
- Identify existing commitments to future investments in maintenance.
- Incorporate MMS and MQA data to improve predictions of future conditions.
- Perform initial budget allocations, including maintenance.
- Identify candidate projects and field crew capacity.
- Develop scenarios for analysis.
- Review predicted future conditions and predicted maintenance needs.
- Finalize funding levels by use.
- Document maintenance strategies for addressing performance gaps.
- Document assumptions and strategies.