Infrastructure management in Portugal: a survey

Abstract

This study has the objective of gathering information over infrastructures’ management systems used by the main infrastructure operators in Portugal. The typological diversity of infrastructures encompassed in this study is wide, from highway, airports, railways, subways, dams, and seaports operators. The most relevant topics were approached in face-to-face interviews with the people in charge of the infrastructures management. The topics approached ranged from organization, protection and accessibility of information in the management system, to inspection, maintenance and intervention systems, leading to decision making methodologies with the identification of prioritization systems, as well as environmental considerations, cost analysis and life cycle assessment. In parallel to face-to-face interviews it was carried out an online survey specially developed for inspectors, in which the objective was to gather information about their needs regarding the infrastructure management system when preforming the inspection tasks. In this article are presented the results of the study, as well as further considerations of new development topics over infrastructures’ management systems.