Reinvigorating asset maintenance and renewal in an age of ‘build new now’

Commentary from the Infrastructure Commission recently caught my eye. It reads, ‘If we want to maintain our infrastructure for future generations, around 60 percent of all investment needs to go to renewing existing assets’. 

From potholed roads to burst pipes and leaky public buildings, you don’t need to look far to see we’ve not been doing the right thing with what’s already been built. The issue isn’t helped by successive governments having swung investment towards new builds.  

Our closest neighbour has the exact same problem. In the Australian state of Victoria, a staggering 91 percent of roads have been rated poor or very poor, while billions are being poured into new motorways. 

Underinvesting in maintenance and renewals is only buying us a bigger problem for the future. When much of our existing infrastructure struggles to handle daily wear and tear, let alone coming climate shocks, we’re flying too close to the sun. Continuing with the status quo means that the infrastructure investment decisions we’re making today won’t realise their full value. 

No infrastructure investment is ever ‘one and done’. Any time you build a new stadium, new hospital, new water treatment plant, or new expressway, it's not finished when you cut the ribbon. People forget that only 40 percent of its total lifecycle cost has been spent when the grand opening is held. 

Upgrading and looking after what we already have is plain common sense. The sun will continue to bake, winds blow, water flow, and storms rage. Coupled with regular daily use, infrastructure gets impacted. We can never fully eliminate wear and tear on infrastructure, but we can plan for and mitigate it.  

Along with asset surveys, computer modelling has a significant role to play in forecasting future asset condition - from which we can infer levels of service to inform decision-making around investment levels for maintenance and renewals. 

Asset managers talk about ‘life cycles’, ‘useful life’ and ‘retrofitting’. Regular upgrades and renewals are crucial for avoiding decay and getting the most from our precious investments. Doing so respects the decisions of past generations and will help us get closer to a sustainable future. It’s not hard to get right. 

From roads and rail to buildings and bridges, ensuring infrastructure has a long and productive life is part of being a responsible environmental custodian. In an age when it's more important than ever to make the best possible use of the planet’s finite raw materials, this is a relatively easy action we can take.  

In OECD countries, roughly 65 percent of the total expected building stock in 2060 is already built. In cities, 80 percent of building stock needed for 2050 is already built. 

Building for longevity can be incredibly sustainable. A research paper from renowned Chinese American bridge engineer Man-Chung Tang for example found that “a bridge that lasts 300 years instead of 100 years is equivalent to a reduction in environmental impacts [of] 66%”. 

Properly looking after our existing infrastructure can defer by decades the need to build new infrastructure. In the grand scheme of sustainability, evaluating our infrastructure with a view to maximising its life can help make all the difference.

Last month, panellists at a WSP and Helen Clark Foundation-hosted event at Parliament noted that investment decision-making often favours shiny new projects over maintenance and renewal of existing infrastructure. The room was left in no doubt about the importance of maximising asset utility, and improved asset management. 

Sadly, decisions are sometimes prematurely made to go ahead with constructing new infrastructure before serious conversations are had around renewing or upgrading that which already exists.  

In many cases, thanks to materials advances and the following of sound, common-sense design practices, we know that getting another several decades out of assets is entirely practical and possible. 

There’s a definite need for new infrastructure, notably in transport. The link between shipping and land transport, for example, be that rail or road, is critical to a productive and sustainable future.  

But when the investment balance swings away from maintenance and renewals we’re robbing from the past. A 60/40 percentage split is about right but in favour of maintenance and renewal to realise the true value of our earlier infrastructure investments. 

In looking for answers, the energy sector provides a useful template. It goes through a three-year cycle where the regulator reviews and approves plans for investment and costs. Understanding how existing assets should be sustained and the true amount needed for maintenance and renewal is built into the process. 

To secure a sustainable future, it's time to shift our focus from 'building new now' to 'maintaining and renewing for tomorrow'. By rebalancing our investment priorities to prioritise existing infrastructure, we honour past investments and ensure resilience against future challenges.  

So, let's build smarter, maintain better, and safeguard our infrastructure for generations to come.