USA: life cycle cost analysis should be tied to funding, says new report

A new report from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Eno Center for Transportation calls for life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) and performance to be tied to federal discretionary funding. Evaluating the long-term maintenance costs is crucial to budget planning, they say. The report also calls for an LCCA pilot programme at state level to demonstrate the overall cost-effectiveness of data driven projects.

“Every federal dollar spent should ultimately be tied to the most cost-effective product, and LCCA supports a data decision-making process that saves taxpayer money over the long-term life of our nation’s infrastructure,” said Edward Sullivan, chief economist and group vice president at PCA. “We believe that the low life-cycle cost of concrete can be a major contributor to this new model.”

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has reiterated its support for smarter methods of investing taxpayer dollars in sound infrastructure projects. PCA estimates that by utilising concrete, states could save billions on roads built between from 2009 to 2015, based on the overall lifetime costs of the roads.

Adapted from press release by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/03102014/usa-life-cycle-cost-analysis-should-be-tied-to-funding-609/