Understanding Drainage System Capability

Scope
What is the situation?
The effective management of a drainage system requires a complete understanding of its capability. This is based
The effective control of water is essential to the safe and upon a holistic approach in which drainage is viewed and managed as a system from the infall to outfall, rather than as
economic management of railway infrastructure. individual components.

Drainage has an important role in reducing the degradation A full understanding of the system capability is
mechanisms caused by water; such as the long-term softening of dependent on the knowledge of:
materials that form the track support system and earthworks.
• A complete and accurate asset inventory.
Neglect of the drainage system can have significant cost and safety • Location, condition, and performance data.
implications for the parent asset; such as delay minutes, poor track • A measure of the capacity of the system.
geometry, line closures and the likelihood of earthwork failures.
• Current and future demand.
• Competency.
Flooding & Earthslip Delay Minutes

• Systems approach.
Analysis of causes
70,000 210,000

60,000 180,000
Location Condition
A better understanding of these key components, 50,000 150,000

Capacity (of Asset / of System)

alongside the enablers to capture the necessary
Technology limitations 40,000 120,000
Inefficient My Work App
Buried assets 30,000 90,000
Incomplete asset data
data will allow for the drainage system
No / Limited / Unsafe Access
Limited resource
Unknown relationship between condition & capacity Limited resource 20,000 60,000
Ellipse design not utilised. Maximised
Poor availability of technology
Poor knowledge transfer
Poor incomplete data collection capability to be measured. 10,000 30,000
No condition to calculate current capacity
Technology limitation 0 0
Incomplete asset inventory
Inability to measure
Unsafe / no / limited access Unable to inspect
Unable to calculate system capacity
Poor / incomplete data collection Lack of availability of adequate
No authority to call tools / equipment
Understand Drainage

Unable to export ‘system’ to calculate Unknown catchment Data not accessible Inconsistent inspection techniques / process
System Capability
To address these challenges it is expected that R&D actions will need to address the following aspects:
capacity / capability / criticality / priority allocations to system
Data not analysed No repeatability and reliability
Unable to edit GIS / asset data in Ellipse Missing / changing topography
No CRI measure Inconsistent conditional scoring
Culture change required to inspections Historical seasonal trends
Poor reliability Limited resources
No GIS competency on routes Effects of climate change

Incomplete & immature asset Data sets & models to calculate

Flooding performance trends Delayed implementation of BCR
Ellipse unable to map cross-asset Effects of weather resilience Data not accessible Lack of available training
Unable to capture relationship data Forecast / weather

inventory the past, present & future

prediction tool No specific drainage fault management system
- upstream / downstream Immature asset information
Process inefficiency Lack of understanding of past performance Silos in learning from past incidents
Embedded BCR process and standards

demand on the system.

No knowledge transfer
No system mapping Relationship of data to system Recognition of deficit
No degradation modelling

System Approach
Effect of 3rd party changes
No system approach
Poor knowledge transfer and familiarity • What tools and processes are required to
achieve a complete asset inventory?
Inadequate models Fear of technology

Current & Future Demand

Past & Present Performance
No formalised competency assessments • What datasets and tools are available
• How can the data with the asset inventory or need to be developed to calculate the
Competency
Asset Management
be maintained and managed in the most past, present and future demand on a
Competency including risk,
planning, whole life decision, effective manner? drainage system?
cost & volume, safety

• Considerations should be made on the • How can these datasets be integrated

accessibility of the data and systems required with existing processes and systems,
Priority problems to manage the workflow. supporting the management of drainage
assets decision making progress?
Capturing condition & tocation
Problems Related goals Benefits information Tools & datasets to manage,
• Incomplete and immature asset • To complete the asset inventory • Enabling proactive drainage • What tools and processes are available to view, map drainage as a system
inventory. so that 95% of assets are within management, to target capture asset data efficiently and safely?
Ellipse by CP7. maintenance and intervention • Considerations should be given as to how • How can we map and view drainage as a
• Capturing condition and location
activities at the most high-risk these tools/processes will integrate with system?
information. • All assets should have condition and
GIS location information by CP7. locations and in a timely cost- current systems e.g. Ellipse. • Tools and datasets are required for
• Insufficient tools and datasets to
effective manner. the management of drainage from a
manage, view and map drainage as • Drainage systems identified
holistic systems approach. The developed
a system. and mapped on Geo-RINM or
equivalent platform.
Measurement of the capacity of a tools should support the decision-
• Unable to measure the capacity of making process and allow for scheduled
a drainage system. • Capacity of individual systems drainage system
interventions. Providing cost and safety
• Insufficient datasets and models recorded in asset register. benefits over the whole life of the system.
• What tools and processes are needed to
to calculate the past, present and • Complete demand analysis of each
measure the capacity of a drainage system?
future demands on the system. system.
• How can we locate and measure the capacity
of difficult to access or buried assets?