Schedule 1 Services

Part 1. Services

Blackpool Council Road Asset Management System

Scope
This Scope specifies and describes the services to be delivered.

Blackpool Council (the Employer) is seeking to procure a versatile web based data management
system that is capable of handling asset information, not limited to highways asset information. The
system will be used to visualise the condition, location and history of a range of asset types, in
context with other spatial data.

The system should be flexible enough to allow the Employer to develop advanced methods of data
collection and facilitate a move away from legacy systems.

It is important that the system is intuitive and allows the Employer to upload, organise and export
data in-house, without calling on external support from the Supplier.

The system will also be used to broker information with a range of organisations, as Blackpool
recognises that effective asset management requires the input and brokering of information with
multiple agencies.

The Scope is divided into two parts as shown below which represents two distinct elements of the
service;

Part One - Data Collection

In order to provide suitable data to allow the effective modelling as covered in Part Two below the
Supplier shall undertake a physical survey of the highways and footways network in accordance with
the following requirements;

1. The Supplier shall assess the visible condition of highways and footways and categorise into
five logical grades that reflect the extent of the condition and serviceability of the highways
and footways.

The Supplier shall record and map the type and extent of the different materials used in the
highway and footway surface.

The survey shall provide data that is accurate and detailed enough to support deterioration
modelling in Part 2 below.

2. The Supplier shall record the extent of the different type of material and its associated
visible condition on both highways and footways surface.
 The areas should be accurately recorded in m2 and shall be geo-referenced to allow the
import into a proprietary GIS system.

Area calculations using nominal width and length calculations will not be accepted as a valid
method.

3. The Supplier shall supply a full colour geo-located image of each area of visible condition
with a minimum on screen resolution of 2 megapixels to be able to visually distinguish the
actual damage to highways and footways. The geo-location shall be supplied in: Latitude
Longitude (WGS84) or OSGB coordination system. The images should be available upon
demand via a web hosted system such that no image files need to be stored by the
Employer. All imagery should be delivered via a viewing system that allows the images to be
selected from a single point on a map. All images for a single location should be available
together simultaneously for comparison and aid identification.

A request for an image should result in an image being displayed over the web in less than
500 milliseconds.

4. Based on items 1 to 3 above, the Supplier shall identify the outstanding work required to
bring the carriageway and footways up to the highest condition grade, or grades as required
by the Employer, based upon treatment types agreed with the Employer.

This information shall include the type and area of materials (in square meters) and the
associated cost based on the Employers approximate unit rates (supplied by the Employer).

5. The Supplier should supply a data management system that is web based and can be used to
access and view the data spatially.

This system should allow the users to visualise the survey data to allow interpretation of the
results to support decision making with respect to highways maintenance interventions.

6. In order to assess highways condition data in context with supporting information such as
drainage etc. the data management system should allow the Employer to independently
upload, organise and export any common geospatial data format, such as ESRI shape file
format, to be overlaid with the survey data such as other asset data and be viewable on a
map interface. The system shall include the tools necessary to allow the Employer to
organise the data in the database so that the Employer can move data from one asset group
to another. E.g. the Employer may want lighting columns initially stored against an asset
group called ‘Street Lighting’, then he subsequently reorganises the structure to reference it
against a new asset group named ‘Electrical Assets’.

7. To allow the Employer to broker asset information or other data with third party
organisations such as the Emergency Services, Environment Agency etc, whilst at the same
time allowing the data owners to manage permissions relating to that data, the data
management system should allow multiple agencies/stakeholders to upload, view, edit and
otherwise manipulate their data on their own instance of the system whilst ensuring that
the data is kept secure and only visible to the data’s owner’s organisation unless otherwise
permitted by the Employer.
 8. The data management system should allow electronic documents (pdf, .doc, .xls) video, text,
hyperlinks to be uploaded and stored against any geo-location on the system.

At each point where the electronic documents are uploaded the user should be able to
create a file directory including the ability to create folders that can be edited at any time.
The data managment system should allow for plans, drawings etc. to be created and stored
on the system in such a way that allows the originator to manage the permissions for
viewing/editing/reporting.

9. The data management system and any associated software or mobile apps should be
compliant with crown copyright but should not allow Ordnance Survey derived data to be
overlaid on any map interface or search engine whereby rights to that data are retained by
others in any way.

The Supplier must supply clear and unambiguous documented evidence that any proposed
third party mapping provider (e.g. bing maps, openstreet maps, google etc.) does not claim
any intellectual property rights over any data overlaid on their mapping or derived from
their mapping.
The evidence must demonstrate explicitly that no copyright claim is made over Ordnance
Survey derived data by these providers.

10. The data management system shall be provided with software or apps that allow the data
collected, as defined in items 1 to 5 above, to be remotely updated from the field.

The Supplier is not required to supply hardware but must state clearly what hardware is
compatible with their proposed solution and clearly indicate how they will ensure that their
solution will be ‘future-proofed’ against future changes in operating systems.

11. The software apps should be capable of displaying a map background(s) (other than aerial
imagery) that clearly shows the extent and shape of carriageways and footways. For
example Ordnance Survey Master Map.

12. The software apps should be capable of storing collected data on the device whilst offline
(i.e. not connected to the internet). Once connected online, via either Wi-Fi or 3/4G mobile
data services the system should automatically synchronise with the core data management
system.

13. In order to preserve the accuracy of the data collected by the Employer and to develop
deterioration rates for local carriageways and footways, the proposed data management
system shall have the capability to record the location, extent, date, type, cost and materials
used in maintenance schemes and by doing so automatically recalculate the condition of the
highway and footway network in line with the five grades defined by the Supplier in Part
One item 1 above, and at the same time update the asset inventory.

Note; there is no requirement for the Supplier to populate the system with historical data, but the
user must have the ability to record maintenance as described above.
Also the provision of the modelling software as a service (SaaS) described in Part two below is
deemed to be included in this Part one service such that Employer can operate the software
independently if desired.

Part Two - Deterioration and Lifecycle Modelling

In order to understand the medium to long term deterioration of the highways network, and then
model the implications of any given investment/maintenance regime, the Supplier shall make
available online deterioration and investment modelling software as a service, using the SaaS
(Software as a Service) principle.
The system shall be capable of the following:-

1. The software service shall provide simulation of the deterioration or failure risks of asset
groups (highways, footways, street lighting, street furniture etc.) over Employer definable
timescales.

For asset groups other than Highways and Footways the Supplier will not be required to
provide the base condition information to support the modelling.

2. The software service should enable the use of functional forms that are appropriate for
modelling highly variable asset performance and failure risks, particularly for urban networks
with evolved pavements (i.e. probability models). It should include a basic option to utilise
deterioration matrices defined in the HMEP deterioration modelling toolkit.

The functional forms should also be appropriate to enable local authority Employers to
calibrate realistic models from limited historical condition data.

3. Simulation of various treatment scenarios and options for treatments over user definable
timescales.

The simulation shall allow the Employer to prioritise investment into the five different
grades of highways and footways and provide flexibility for the Employer to define
alternative condition grading. The system shall allow any number of simulations, their
parameters and outputs to be stored for retrieval at a later date and the results to be
compared in order to allow a spread of factors/risks to be considered and compared.

4. Calculation and reporting of treatment costs per asset group in each year of the simulation,
taking into account factors such as indexation allowances, charges etc.

5. Calculation and reporting of the maintenance backlog/depreciation of each asset group for
each year of the simulation taking into account any user definable constraints such as a limit
on the amount of work that can be undertaken each year e.g. traffic management
constraints.

6. Visual representations of the state of each asset group in graphical formats including graphs
and time series plots.

7. Provision of a summary table allowing easy comparison of the results from different
scenarios
 8. Calculation of the reactive treatment costs associated with different maintenance scenarios.

9. Computation of the treatment areas which optimally minimises the total cost over the whole
projection period within Employer defined budget and performance limits. The optimisation
routine must also incorporate borrowing options and take into account repayment
schedules within these budget limits.

The Supplier should demonstrate that the optimisation algorithm is appropriate to this type
of problem and that it can indeed produce lower cost options than would be derived from a
manual trial and error approach, or, ideally should demonstrate that the solution is
mathematically optimal.

Added Value

1. The Local Council Highway Investment Group has a policy of supporting the local
communities and ensuring that any contractual arrangement produces local benefits
wherever possible.

The contractor must demonstrate how their proposal supports local employment, either by
direct employment or by any initiative that will provide training and/or skills transference to
particular groups within various authority boundaries.

Resilience 

1. The system must be able to strengthen the resilience of the Employers highways network.

The system should aid in increasing resilience to extreme weather conditions (flooding,
snow, high winds etc.), terrorism and any other event that could severely diminish the
capacity of the highways network at a local and national level.
The system shall contribute to making the response and recovery from such events more
effective by aiding communication, sharing and brokering data etc.

Software Licenses

Licenses to operate the software shall as a minimum address the following;

 The software is to be provided as a SAAS (Software As A Service) service model i.e. access
provided to an Authority via a standard web browser requiring no software to be run on or
by the Authority’s own ICT systems other than that required to provide access to the
internet via a web browser.

 The system should be licensed for use per ‘known user’ (user identified by a unique login).

 The licensing shall allow new users to be added upon demand by a Council Administrative
user with the appropriate rights.

 The licensing cost of mapping imagery is to be included in the price.

  The contractor shall demonstrate that any licensing of third party mapping such as google
maps, bing maps etc. is compliant with crown copyright with respect to Ordnance Survey
derived data.

In the event of any ambiguity, discrepancy or inconsistency between the software license and the
contract documents then the contract document shall prevail.

Quality Management
The Supplier will prepare a Quality Plan for each commission called off from the Framework
Agreement and as a minimum shall address the following;
 Time – how cycle times from Data Collection to Deterioration and Lifecycle Modelling will be
kept to a minimum recognizing Employers year end budget cycles which may influence when
information will be required.
 Cost – how the cost of Deterioration of Lifecycle Modelling will be estimated and controlled
with a view to minimizing the total cost.
 Accuracy – how the Supplier will undertake self-checking and auditing to prove the accuracy
of Part 1 Data Collection and that the optimum solutions are being generated in the Part 2
Deterioration of Lifecycle Modelling.
 A statement on business continuity to explain how the supplier will ensure continuity and
quality of service e.g. should key staff leave the company, in the cases of staff sickness or any
other unforeseeable event. The statement should also address the protection of the
integrity of the data from both the survey and any modelling activity.
 Details on how the supplier will ensure that the employer is made familiar with the various
systems and software including training and knowledge transfer to reduce dependency on
the supplier.
 The most recent completed 3 employer satisfaction questionnaires (refer Appendix 1 of
Framework Information.

The cost of preparing and managing the Quality Plan shall be included in the prices for Part 1 – Data
Collection as described above.