Page 18 - College Planning & Management, June 2017

When identifying capital and maintenance projects, under- ground infrastructure isn’t always a top priority. However, as- sessing and prioritizing infrastructure maintenance and repair is critical for colleges and universities. If aging infrastructure isn’t addressed it can lead to significant safety and financial headaches down the road when a pipe bursts or IT line fails, creating an emergency situation.
that sends an RF signal, ensuring precise details about the type of utility, its depth and its location.
2. Assess Your Needs. Once a campus is mapped, college and university facilities professionals can assess the needs on their particular campus. This condition assessment, along with the mapping, is critical to identify needs on a campus.
THREE STEPS TO SUCCESS
So, where do you begin when tackling infrastructure mainte- nance and repair? The schools that best address their infrastruc- ture maintenance follow a three- step process:
1. Map Your Campus. The first step is about understanding what utilities and underground infra- structure are on your campus. Re- view your records and create a cen- tralized system that tracks what’s under the ground and running to your buildings. Luckily, Geographic Information System (GIS) programs can help you save and analyze this information. With GIS you can as- sign data, such as age and material types, to your infrastructure.
Utility mapping technology can deliver an accurate understand- ing of all utilities on a campus. At the University of Virginia, for ex- ample, utilities are mapped using GPS units and integrated into a GIS database. Ground-penetrating ra- dar is another tool used to map the campus and identify utilities, espe- cially those underground. The in- formation gathered is entered into a GIS or asset management software to ensure it’s captured. This pro- cessisongoingandasthecampus changes,sodoesthedatabase.
RFID marker balls are yet another example of new and powerful tools that work well with GIS systems. They enable schools to tag utilities during construction and retrieve vital information once they disappear underground. These marker balls allow schools to track each type of utility and infrastruc- ture on their campuses. The RFID balls include a small chip
Of course, any infrastructure up- grades that address regulatory compliance should be prioritized. Then, using a solid mapping platform or GIS database, facili- ties officials can develop a well- informed list of projects. Typical- ly, utility upgrades will be priori- tized based on age and condition of utility. For example, an 80-year- old sewer line with root intrusion will be ranked above a 40-year- old water line with some leakage. Also, maintenance personnel usu- ally know the lines that experi- ence the most problems. Video in- spection is a critical component of assessing the condition of gravity lines. Making these determina- tions is much more effective if you have already collected the data on a campus’ various infrastructure and utilities components.
Utilizing technology to map a campus is critical, and not just to assess your needs. By saving the valuable information collected, a college or university is less reli- ant on institutional memory. As this data is collected, ensure that it’s stored in a centralized digital location. This could take the form of GIS maps or an enterprise docu- ment management system. In fact,
many schools already use these systems for student files and personnel records. They can be
utilized to house digital plans about a school’s facilities as well. Finally, the information gathered using these tools will better position facilities departments to advocate for budget-
ing and funding of the needed infrastructure improvements. 3. Develop a Maintenance Program. As the specific in- frastructure maintenance and repair needs are identified and
Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind
I CAN DIG IT. Geographic Information System, or GIS,
and document underground infrastructure, including
that lie beneath a campus. Although it may be time-consuming to untangle decades of records in order to compile a GIS map, the result is a living, electronic atlas that will simplify infrastructure maintenance.
mapping can be used to locate water and all other utilities lines
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