Media centre

Tuesday 28 Oct 2008

MAJOR NEW RESEARCH PROGRAMME IN INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT

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National

The University of Nottingham has joined forces with Network Rail to launch an exciting new multi-million pound research programme in infrastructure asset management.

The programme will be headed by a new professorial position in the Department of Civil Engineering at Nottingham, jointly-sponsored by Network Rail and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

A growing number of asset-intensive sectors in the UK and overseas – for example utility networks, power stations, railway and road infrastructure, airports, oil and gas installations, manufacturing and process plants – are adopting the principles of asset management.

The focus of the new research will be to improve the framework for optimising and implementing major decisions on the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of physical assets like these, in order to deliver a safe, economic infrastructure. These decisions drive tens of billions of pounds of engineering expenditure each year in the UK alone and have impacts on outputs of national significance.

Professor Andrew McNaughton, chief engineer at Network Rail, was delighted at the announcement. He said: “The whole area of asset management is still in its infancy and the potential benefits far exceed the considerable gains that have been delivered to date. This investment will enable us to push forward the boundaries of knowledge in infrastructure asset management.”

The research programme will be based within the Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre (NTEC), at Nottingham's Department of Civil Engineering which is headed by Professor Andrew Collop. It will fit in well with NTEC's plans to develop highway asset management.

Professor Collop said: “We are looking to bring together researchers from a range of disciplines to make significant improvements, both in terms of the strategic approach to asset management and the detailed engineering components of the asset management system."

The initial investment from Network Rail and the Royal Academy is in excess of £1.4m with the University committing itself to extra academic staff to complement the new professorial post.

“We are delighted that Network Rail is supporting this pioneering new post,” says Robert Barrett, head of research programmes at the Royal Academy of Engineering. “They are making a very serious commitment in jointly supporting this new research chair which fulfils our aim in bringing together knowledge and experience in Network Rail with academic excellence at the University of Nottingham.”