APPLICATION OF LIFE-CYCLE COSTING AND DEMAND-RESPONSIVE MAINTENANCE TO RAIL MAINTENANCE OF WAY

Although rehabilitation and renovation are becoming an increasingly important aspect of construction activity, comparatively little work has been devoted to the development of planning and management tools to evaluate different maintenance policies. In contrast with the design of new construction, the planning and management of maintenance (including routine maintenance, rehabilitation, and renovation) are more concerned with the long-term performance of an existing facility and associated life-cycle costs. Performance and costs are influenced not only by the quality of initial design and construction but also by the magnitudes and frequencies of the actual loads imposed, the actual environmental conditions encountered during service, aging, and the maintenance actually performed on the facility through its life. Because the interactions among these factors are complex, most managers extrapolate maintenance trends and costs from past experience and fail to investigate useful alternatives in maintenance policy through life-cycle costing. In work with the Red Nacional de los Ferrocariles Espanoles (RENFE) (Spanish National Railroad), some new concepts in maintenance management (referred to as a demand-responsive approach) were applied to study several different track maintenance policies. For each alternative not only total program costs, but also the impacts on future system condition, were computed. As a result of this research, a number of key findings emerged for RENFE top management. The analytical concepts of the demand-responsive approach and their application to the Spanish rail network are described.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1985/1030/1030-001.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=APPLICATION+OF+LIFE-CYCLE+COSTING+AND+DEMAND-RESPONSIVE+MAINTENANCE+TO+RAIL+MAINTENANCE+OF+WAY&author=M.+Markow&publication_year=1985
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309039215
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Markow, Michael J
• Publication Date: 1985

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1-7
• Monograph Title: Track maintenance and classification yards
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1030
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Demand responsive transportation; Life cycle analysis; Life cycle costing; Maintenance management; Maintenance of way; Policy
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Design; Finance; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Policy; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00455827
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309039215
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 31 1986 12:00AM