An interview with Mike Bruty, Assets & Capital Works Manager at Campaspe
In his 28 year career in Local Government, Mike Bruty has seen much change. But it is in the field of asset management where there has been one of the clearest and most staggering developments in the field of Local Government.
“When I started, it was not mentioned and now we have conferences devoted to the topic.” Smaller regional Councils such as Victoria’s Shire of Campaspe have been hit by the deterioration in roads and buildings. Mike Bruty said additional money is only part of the answer as Local Governments try to deal with ageing infrastructure from the postwar boom. But he remains optimistic about the future of asset management.
“I think we are heading in the right direction,” he said. “The recent asset management conference in Melbourne was well attended. The way information is compiled is very important. With proper information, you can then map out a strategy for the future.”
He gave the example of City of Sturt in South Australia, which recently undertook an extensive asset management analysis and then went on to borrow $4 million to help preserve its infrastructure.
“You need the facts and figures in front of you,” he said.
The Shire of Campaspe’s own infrastructure management is at the forefront of Local Government practice incorporating integrated policy, strategy, asset management plans and operational plans.
Mike Bruty said regional Councils face enormous challenges in effectively and efficiently managing assets within their area. Campaspe is managing assets with a replacement cost of more than $374.2 million. Council’s ongoing research and use of the latest technologies provide Council with innovative asset management systems and operations.
“This includes the benchmarking of specific road management activities with other Councils, research continual improvements to asset management software,” he said.
Campaspe Shire has worked with the Australian Roads Research Board to analyse the economic lives of sealed roads to see what are the most effective materials and construction techniques for gravel roads. Council’s work on the development of a quantitative measure of a road’s roughness is shared with other Councils that have a gravel roads network.
The development of improvements has been done using leading software developer, BizeAssets, to enable integrated asset management. It mounts renewed profiles for all assets, simple financial modelling to determine impacts of current and future funding options on the condition of the assets, and an inspection module to link maintenance works to particular assets.
For more information contact Mike Bruty on (03) 5481 2238.
