Data Validation and Condition Assessment of Council Stormwater Assets

Abstract

The subject of my paper is data validation and condition assessment of Council stormwater assets. We all know that Councils are subject to a wide range of statutory regulations, standards and controls but c’mon that stuff is a little on the “yawn” side. I’ll let you in on a little secret, what Council’s really want to know is, where their assets really are and what condition they are in.

And that’s where Proterra Group come in.

Established in Goondiwindi in 2008, we are a regionally based, privately-owned consultancy that provides project management, civil engineering, asset management and waste management services to rural and regional Council’s throughout Australia.

Proterra Group have been collecting Stormwater Asset Data for over three years now, however some of you may not even know that this is a service we provide. Over the past few years we have continually grown this part of our business and have now completed inspections on over 15,000 assets for a variety of Councils a few of which are Goondiwindi, Toowoomba, Lockyer Valley, Tweed Heads, Mackay, Paroo, Western Downs and Southern Downs.

What we do: • Surveys and condition assessment of assets dependent on the scope of works, options include photos only, Quickview or CCTV; • Collaboration with Local Councils to ensure data attributes collected are not only as per specification but also relevant to their organisational requirements; • Asset data capture using mobile devices and applications; • Accurate asset survey services via RTK survey equipment; • Presentation of asset data and mapping into Council’s required GIS format (MapInfo Tables, ESRI Shape files, Google Earth or MS excel formats); • Commitment to excellence of service with ISO accreditation for safety, environmental and quality.

Challenges: • Inaccurate data and maps - field survey assists with this and we map and manipulate the data for ease of use; • Open lines of communication- provision of weekly updates regarding number of assets captured, interactive maps to show location of field crew/s and review of assets captured against Council budget / scope; • Backup resources and contingency planning – additional equipment available and cross trained personnel including WSA-05, IPWEA P5, Implement Traffic Control, Council Inductions, Authorised Person / Local Government and First Aid + CPR. • Entry to sites – experience with organising and implementing traffic control services and private property entry including provision of letter drops to affected properties.