This is one of several articles profiling the online Spring Technical Meetings of TAC’s six councils and their committees that took place in April and May 2024.
TAC’s Infrastructure & Asset Management Council welcomed 57 attendees to its spring meeting.
Guest presentations
Owen Brown of Ventus Geospatial presented to the Council on the use of unmanned aerial system technologies in transportation. He reviewed Canada’s state of practice, summarizing failures and successes, and highlighted opportunities through multiple project examples.
The Council also heard about a project to update TAC’s Guide to Bridge Hydraulics that is nearing completion. This update will be the guide’s third edition, first published in 1973 and a leading reference for Canadian hydrotechnical engineers, hydrologists, and hydraulic specialists.
New pooled-fund projects
The Council approved the solicitation of funding for four future projects:
- A scoping study for an update to TAC’s Guidelines for Development and Management of Transportation Infrastructure in Permafrost Regions
- A new edition of TAC’s Guide to Bridge Combination Barriers
- A synthesis of issues and practices related to low-carbon road infrastructure
- Development of a tool to estimate the costs of utility relocations
Committee updates
The Council received updates from its six committees and one working group.
The Asset Management Committee attracted 70 attendees. It featured presentations on decision making for transportation asset management plans, Alberta’s State of the Asset Report 2022-23, the City of Ottawa’s Asset Management Plan, drones in asset management, and asset valuation and infrastructure deficits. Discussions were held on low-cost data collection, climate change vulnerability and resilience planning, and cross-asset management and optimization.
The Construction Committee meeting involved 55 participants. The Committee heard presentations and held discussions on pre-qualification procedures in Ontario, the Alliance contracting model used in British Columbia to reconstruct bridges and roads damaged during 2021’s massive flood, and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s portal and process for making construction specification changes.
The Maintenance & Operations Committee meeting was attended by 44 participants and included presentations on the pavement impacts of electric vehicles, safe speeds for trucks in adverse weather conditions, and crash truck conspicuity. The Committee discussed recruitment and retention of staff, contract pricing, pre-emptive signals for winter equipment, and maintenance of active transportation infrastructure.
The Soils & Materials Committee had 73 attendees. It featured presentations on adaptation and resiliency efforts in British Columbia, airfield sustainability, bitumen availability and alternate binders, “buy clean” policies, and pavement design with cold recycling materials.
The Pavements Committee attracted 89 attendees. It featured presentations on multi-speed deflectometers, evaluation of overload allowance for net-zero and zero-emission freight vehicles, impacts of electric trucks on flexible pavements, connected and automated vehicles, and pavement resiliency and impacts of major climate events. Notable discussions were held on the impacts of designing for averages and shifts in long-term design approaches.
The Structures Committee had 59 attendees. It heard presentations on the erection of the Strathcona County steel footbridge and the implications of 3% roadway cross slopes.
The Northern Transportation Infrastructure Working Group reported on its meeting, which attracted 22 participants and included discussions on projects related to permafrost, climate change impacts on transportation infrastructure, and managing challenges in cold regions.
Infrastructure & Asset Management Council Executive
The Council’s Executive includes:
- Chair – Brad Neirinck (City of Winnipeg)
- Vice-Chair – Ian Pilkington (British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure)
- Past Chair – Jennifer Graham Harkness (City of Toronto)
- Board Liaison – Stephanie Hébert (Transport Canada)
- Chair, Asset Management Committee – Nathalie Gionet (Yukon Highways and Public Works)
- Chair, Construction Committee – Ron Weatherburn (Dillon Consulting Limited)
- Chair, Maintenance & Operations Committee – Jason Kittle (City of Toronto)
- Chair, Pavements Committee – Ania Anthony (Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways)
- Chair, Soils & Materials Committee – Sina Varamini (Crumb Rubber Manufacturers)
- Chair, Structures Committee – Robert Simpson (New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure)
Contact Craig Stackpole ✉ for more information on the council and its committees.
