Inframanage

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About INFRAMANAGE.COM
    • OUR TEAM
    • TESTIMONIALS
  • IAM RESOURCES
    • VIDEOS
      • Southwest EFC Asset Management Story
      • IPAM Summary Series
      • IM – Forecasting the Changes to 2030
      • NZ Demography – Professor Natalie Jackson
      • IDS Conversations
      • IAM – Myths, Realities, and Money
      • Strategic Asset Management Planning
      • Preparing, Implementing, and Reviewing AMP
      • Asset Management Planning Lecture at UoA
      • Demand Management – Asset Management Lecture at UoA
    • WEBINARS
      • IAM – How to Start?
      • Ask the Experts August 2018
      • Ask the Experts October 2017
      • Ask the Experts June 2016
      • Ask the Experts November 2015
      • Ask the Experts May 2015
      • Ask the Experts August 2014
      • Ask the Experts April 2014
      • Infrastructure Management Discussions
    • INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT eBOOKS
    • CONFERENCE PAPERS
    • RESEARCH PAPERS
    • NEWS
    • PACIFIC INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT
      • About Pacific Infrastructure Management
      • The Pacific IM Team
      • AM Pacific Resources
    • CLIMATE ADAPTATION
    • VIDEO BLOGS
      • The Metropolis Infrastructure Management Story
      • Asset Management Conversations with Evan
  • DIRECTORY
  • UTILITIES IM
  • CLIMATE ADAPTATION
  • BLOG
    • ASSET MANAGEMENT VIDEO BLOG
      • The Metropolis Infrastructure Management Story
      • Asset Management Conversations with Evan
    • ASK THE EXPERTS
      • Enriching Infrastructure Asset Management Lessons
      • Utility Infrastructure Asset Management Learning
      • Starting Infrastructure Asset Management
      • Simplifying Infrastructure Asset Management
      • Levels of Service-Cost-Risk and Asset Management Plan
      • Resolving Asset Management Issues
      • Asset Management – How to Start and Practice Effectively
      • Infrastructure Asset Management – How To Start
    • INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT DISCUSSIONS
    • INFRASTRUCTURE DECISION SUPPORT
    • IAM – MYTHS, REALITIES, & MONEY
    • PREPARING, IMPLEMENTING, & REVIEWING AMP
    • STRATEGIC ASSET MANAGEMENT PLANNING
    • SWEFC ASSET MANAGEMENT STORY
    • PACIFIC WASTE & WASTEWATER CONFERENCE
  • CONTACT
  • MEMBER HOME
  • LOGIN
You are here: Home / IAM Myths / Impact of Hidden Risk to Cost – The Case of Flint Water Crisis and I35W Bridge Collapse

12/12/2016 By Admin 3 Comments

Impact of Hidden Risk to Cost – The Case of Flint Water Crisis and I35W Bridge Collapse

infrastructure asset management

This is the continuation of Ross’s discussion on the earlier post, “Explaining the ‘Levels of Service-Cost-Risk Diagram’ through Analyzing the Flint Water Crisis.”

He explained further by adding the case of I35W Mississippi River Bridge collapse in August 2007.

infrastructure asset management inframanage.com

So the follow-up effects within this diagram, what’s going to happen now or what’s already happening is a huge amount of money is going to get put into that water supply. So dollars are going to go up, hugely shown in the diagram.

So the levels of service are going to come up above that threshold of safety but it’s not going to come up above the threshold of trust because that’s been lost and that would take a very long time to get back. And ultimately the risk is going to come back and below the threshold of safety as well if it hasn’t already.

But what happens in our society when trust is lost?

In a dictatorship or a society like that, if you lose the trust of the community and/or the ruling party or the government, you might get chucked into prison or the person will be shot, or something like that.

In a Western democracy, what happens when trust is lost is that we have legislation and we have regulations and we have the cost of alternative action and we have litigation and we have societal cost and litigation might be a class action, so it could be quite expensive.

And we end up with a lot of mandated inspections and investigations. So the cost carries on for a very long time as a result of levels of service falling below the safety and trust threshold. And hidden risk showing up.

infrastructure asset management inframanage.com

And the interesting thing is, this diagram or picture here is, again from Wikipedia, the Mississippi River bridge, the I35 collapsed on 1 August 2007, 13 died, 145 injured and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rectify that problem.

And there is a whole of reasons why that bridge collapsed. Lots of very detailed reports on it. But if you go back to the 70s and 80s, or even in the 1960s in the engineering profession, there were a lot of factors of safety built into the engineering.

And a lot of people will say, oh you over-engineered things. And it cost too much and society can’t afford that now. And that may or may not be true.

But the thing I think is as we’ve sharpened our practice and as we’ve moved towards less cost and just in time and all those sorts of good things, and sweating infrastructure and getting the most out of it.

The fact that safety has come down, and that’s part of that hidden risk equation and we don’t know where we are. We might have, previously we have a factor of safety of 2, 3 or 4 and maybe it’s now only 1.25, but we don’t know. And that’s about that hidden risk.

And so one of our challenges as a profession and particularly in this Deighton Conference is we’re about optimized decision modeling at this conference. That’s what the software does among other things.

And it’s how the model and communicate those risk trade-offs and the factors of safety. And I think it’s so important not to forget about factors of safety and just how you’re going to model them.


⇐ PREVIOUS POST

 

Explaining the “Levels of Service-Cost-Risk Diagram” through Analyzing the Flint Water Crisis

infrastructure asset management

 

NEXT POST ⇒

 

Risk Management – How a Water Utility Incident in Walkerton Canada Influenced Infrastructure Management Practice in New Zealand

infrastructure asset management


Please Post Your Comments

Related

Share
Share2
Tweet
Pin6
Share
8 Shares

Filed Under: IAM Myths, IAM Myths Realities and Money, Infrastructure Asset Management Tagged With: Canada, deighton user conference, Flint Michigan, Flint Water Crisis, infrastructure asset management realities, Infrastructure Investment, infrastructure management funding, infrastructure management realities, infrastructure usa, Ross Waugh, societal myths

Trackbacks

  1. 3 Free eBooks to Build Your Infrastructure Asset Management Knowledge – Inframanage says:
    22/03/2018 at 5:49 AM

    […] Impact of Hidden Risk to Cost – The Case of Flint Water Crisis and I35W Bridge Collapse […]

    Reply
  2. Explaining the “Levels of Service-Cost-Risk Diagram” through Analyzing the Flint Water Crisis – Inframanage says:
    07/07/2018 at 7:12 AM

    […] Impact of Hidden Risk to Cost – The Case of Flint Water Crisis and I35W Bridge Collapse […]

    Reply
  3. Risk Management – How a Water Utility Incident in Walkerton Canada Influenced Infrastructure Management Practice in New Zealand – Inframanage says:
    07/07/2018 at 7:25 AM

    […] Impact of Hidden Risk to Cost – The Case of Flint Water Crisis and I35W Bridge Collapse […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

TO RECEIVE OUR eNEWSLETTER VIA EMAIL, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE.

Infrastructure Asset Management Newsletter

In signing up, you will receive
FREE updates from Inframanage

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Visit the Climate Adaptation Platform!

Read the articles and links to scholarly papers, infrastructure asset management resources that relate to climate adaptation.

climate adaptation
READ MORE!

Recent Posts

  • Flexibility as a Result of Reflective Water Infrastructure Planning
  • Future Demand Management of Levees in the American Midwest
  • The US and Japan Collaborate to Manage Water in South East Asia
  • Water-Saving Issues Worldwide and Asset Management Planning’s Role
  • Funding Infrastructure Projects thru Using Data is the New Way
  • Inframanage.com Achieves 100K+ Pageviews, Collected 163 Flags
  • Egypt Set for Municipal Infrastructure Upgrade
  • America’s Infrastructure Gets “C-” Overall ASCE Report Card 2021 Grade

Watch our Latest Asset Management Vlog!

Asset inventory issues and solutions CWE 5

Conversations with Evan 5 – Ross Answers Asset Inventory Issues (Nos. 5 to 8)

Continuing with his responses to the asset inventory issues that have been identified, Ross gives the solution to four of the … [Read More...]

MORE Asset Management Video Blogs!

JOIN INFRAMANAGE TO GET MORE AM LEARNING, FREE!

Create an account now and login to browse the Infrastructure Asset Management learning we have published for you!

JOIN US NOW!

IIMM-Related Articles

  • International Infrastructure Management Manual 5th (2015) Edition
  • Asset Management Manual for Smaller to Mid-sized Water Utilities
  • AM Basic Guideline – Applying Infrastructure Asset Management Principles
  • CLICK TO READ MORE IIMM-Related Posts

FREE eBOOKS FOR YOU! BOOST YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT EDUCATION!

infrastructure asset management
READ MORE

THIS VIDEO SEMINAR WILL ENHANCE YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT LEARNING

Introduction to Practical Asset Management Full Series - sidebar

Learn and sharpen your Asset Management skills through the
"Introduction to Practical Asset Management"
video series.

CLICK on the image or anywhere on this text.

BUILD YOUR ASSET MANAGEMENT KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS HERE!

CLICK and watch Ross Waugh present the Infrastructure Asset Management learning resources at the Inframanage.com site.

GET MORE IAM LEARNING!

Introduction to Practical Asset Management Full Series - sidebar
e-LEARNING offers premium Infrastructure Asset Management Online Learning.

FIND OUT MORE

BROWSE MORE TOPICS

  • Ask the Experts
  • Asset Management
  • Asset Management Planning
  • Infrastructure Asset Management
  • Infrastructure Asset Management Courses
  • Infrastructure Asset Management Learning
  • Infrastructure Asset Management Online Education
  • Infrastructure Management
  • Infrastructure Management Education
  • Infrastructure Management Planning
  • Transportation Infrastructure Management
  • Water Utilities Infrastructure Management
  • Infrastructure Management Forecasting
  • Infrastructure Management Innovation
Flag Counter

SEARCH OUR ARCHIVES

BECOME AN INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT EXPERT!

Introduction to Practical Asset Management Full Series - sidebar
FIND OUT MORE

OUR RECENT POSTS

  • Flexibility as a Result of Reflective Water Infrastructure Planning
  • Future Demand Management of Levees in the American Midwest
  • The US and Japan Collaborate to Manage Water in South East Asia
  • Water-Saving Issues Worldwide and Asset Management Planning’s Role
  • Funding Infrastructure Projects thru Using Data is the New Way
  • Inframanage.com Achieves 100K+ Pageviews, Collected 163 Flags

WE TALK ABOUT

  • Future Infrastructure Management Implications
  • Infrastructure Asset Management Resources
  • Infrastructure Asset Management Courses
  • Infrastructure Asset Management Learning
  • Infrastructure Asset Management Online Education
  • Infrastructure Asset Management Online Learning
  • Infrastructure Management Education
  • Infrastructure Management Planning
  • Water Utilities Infrastructure Management

website security

Copyright © 2021 · INFRAMANAGE · PRIVACY POLICY · TERMS OF SERVICE

en English
af Afrikaansar العربيةzh-CN 简体中文nl Nederlandsen Englishfi Suomifr Françaisde Deutschiw עִבְרִיתhi हिन्दीit Italianoja 日本語ko 한국어ms Bahasa Melayupt Portuguêsru Русскийes Españolth ไทยuk Українськаvi Tiếng Việtzu Zulu