2019 - St Lucia - Implementation of a Road Asset Management System

Ministry of Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour (MIPEL) of Saint Lucia is responsible for maintenance of over 1 000 km of roads. Before implementation of the Road Asset Management System (RAMS) the maintenance philosophy was ad-hoc and reactive. This paper describes the implementation of the RAMS as part of a shift from reactive to preventive maintenance.

The biggest task in the establishment of the RAMS was the extensive data collection. Data collection included GPS data on the road centrelines, calibrated International Roughness Index of the whole road network, orthophotos and 360-degree images, photography, traffic counting as well as pavement distress and road inventory based on the collected digital imagery. Besides roads, inventory and condition data was collected on all the bridges. Webbased Road Management System, Road Inventory System and Bridge Management System were implemented and used for maintenance planning. Capacity building with both on-the-job training and classroom training were carried out. The road network is in fair condition with some very congested roads. The maintenance budget should be increased and RAMS should be further institutionalised for processoriented activities for improved road condition in the future.