COMMON FRAMEWORK FOR A LIFE CYCLE BASED ASSET MANAGEMENT APPROACH FOR TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORKS (Paper 898)

Achieving a well-integrated, optimal performing transport infrastructure network in Europe is a key element in the White Paper on Transport’s overall ambition for a single European Transport Area in 2050. As such it complements and supports the pillars on efficient and sustainable transport means and operations.
The required integration and enhancement of the European transport infrastructure networks needs a shift towards next levels of governance capabilities that can adequately address the key societal challenges. In the framework of the AM4INFRA project on a life cycle based asset management approach for transport infrastructure networks, these challenges are related to:
-An unprecedented call for network capacity and performance
-An unprecedented call for transparent, coherent and consistent decision making on cost-performance
The (mostly public) financing of the transport infrastructure system has met with concrete fiscal limits. Already in many countries in the EU, this has led to a backlog in maintenance and replacement. Unless decisive actions are taken on network construction, maintenance and operations, this trend will result in mounting congestion loses in the economic powerhouses on the short term and to prohibitive obstructions in transport flows across the European transport network on the medium term. This calls for cross asset, cross modal and cross border decision making by the appropriate authorities, implying their close coordination and collaboration. 
The paper describes the overall objective of the AM4INFRA project, its concept and the results of the framework architecture developed as one of the three cogwheel elements of the project i.e. the common language.