Statistical Analysis and Sampling Standards for Maintenance Management Quality Assurance (MMQA)

Maintenance management has relied heavily on collecting asset condition information to plan maintenance activities and budget allocation. Data collection is often conducted on a sampling basis because of resource constraints. There is thus a perceived need for the development of an effective sampling framework that can determine statistically representative samples, reflect the true level of maintenance (LOM) at state, region, and station levels, and accommodate agencies’ requirements. This project advances existing knowledge by presenting a systemic approach for a sampling scheme development to assist maintenance activity planning. The proposed method addresses how much and where agencies need to collect asset condition data for accurate LOM estimation. The method integrates Fisher information with a spatial sampling technique that can be customized based on local agencies’ requirements, such as station balanced, spatially balanced, or others. The framework is showcased via an example application of the Signage Repair and Replace database maintained by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT). Four sampling methods that might be tempered to various needs are implemented. Sampling results are presented and compared against historical full asset inventory via similarity analysis. The proposed framework lays a strong theoretical foundation for maintenance asset sampling and is effective for estimating LOM at state, region, and station levels to assist with budget allocation. The method can be easily transferable and adoptable to other agencies for optimal maintenance management.

  • Record URL:
  • Record URL:
  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
  • Corporate Authors:

    University of Utah, Salt Lake City

    Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
    Salt Lake City, UT  United States  84112

    Mountain-Plains Consortium

    North Dakota State University
    Fargo, ND  United States  58108

    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

    University Transportation Centers Program
    Department of Transportation
    Washington, DC  United States  20590

    Utah Department of Transportation

    Salt Lake City, UT  United States 
  • Authors:
    • Liu, Xiaoyue Cathy
    • Chen, Zhuo
  • Publication Date: 2018-6

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 24p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01675096
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: MPC 18-350
  • Contract Numbers: Project 494
  • Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
  • Created Date: Jul 18 2018 9:51AM