From an aviation standpoint, which aspects of asset management matter most to you? What are your biggest maintenance challenges, your growth goals and your budget and capital investment priorities/considerations?
Hanson strives to be proactive and practical, providing innovative and inspiring ideas for our clients, projects and communities. One way we are doing this is through our Decision Optimization Technology–United States (DOT-US) partnership. DOT-US offers a powerful asset management and investment planning tool, DOT™, to help airports and other clients develop their current and future capital improvement plans. DOT-US works directly with clients to meet their infrastructure capital planning needs and provides visual and analytical tools to expedite client success. 
“Being able to provide our clients with a data-driven approach that will help them manage their total cost of asset ownership while improving their electrical demand efficiencies will allow them to meet many of their future needs,” said Charles “Chip” Snowden, Hanson’s senior vice president, aviation. “Our DOT-US program can assist our clients with not only their cost-of-ownership goals, but with their electrical efficiency, sustainability and carbon emission goals.”
Getting off the ground with asset management
We know airport directors, maintenance managers and engineers face budgetary and technology constraints that make the management of their critical infrastructure and capital assets a difficult, ongoing process. In many cases, because of the fast-moving realm of airport operations and maintenance, airport staff find themselves in a reactive mode when it comes to managing their assets. However, many airports are beginning to adopt a long-term view of asset management, based on their return on investment and managing their total cost of asset ownership. To support their plans, airports need a tool that allows them to make asset investment decisions based on scientific and sound financial considerations and then easily and effectively communicate these decisions to stakeholders and investment decision-makers.
Historically, asset management costs have not been eligible for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Improvement Program funding, but the federal government recently passed legislation that has significantly improved the funding opportunities for sustainable, innovative and energy-efficient airport upgrades outside and beyond the traditional FAA funding source. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have significantly expanded the funding potential for airport asset management programs as a function of smart and innovative airport planning. Each year, opportunities arise through the BIL and IRA to fund smart airport planning, including innovative transportation plans and technology improvements that support energy resiliency improvements. Asset management programs can be funded as a component of a comprehensive smart airport grant to support the energy resiliency goals of the federal funding programs.
Could the DOT™ advantage elevate your airport?
The DOT™ software intuitively manages the complexity of creating strategic asset management plans. It can simultaneously incorporate variables to help clients develop plans based on fluctuating budgets, shifting strategic priorities, socio-economic expectations, risk and safety considerations and cross-asset initiatives. The DOT™ software optimizes plan prioritization and offers an easy-to-understand capital and maintenance planning tool. The software includes planning and analysis capabilities for pavement, facilities, equipment, fleet, stormwater, wastewater and watermain and structural assets. In terms of airport-specific assets, this encompasses inbound and outbound baggage; jet bridges; heating, ventilating and air conditioning; landside and airside structures; flooring and roofing; underground electrical cables for airfield lighting; mill work; and vertical/horizontal people moving assets.
In support of a broader asset management perspective at airports, a decision-based support tool such as DOT™ promotes reduced maintenance costs, extends equipment lifespan, improves energy efficiency, helps avoid downtime, allows for better plan budget allocation and improves safety and compliance. It can also provide a graphic representation of an airport’s needs over time, providing an easy-to-use presentation tool for gaining buy-in with decision-makers.
Learn more about DOT™, request a demo or inquire by visiting bettercapitalplanning.com or contacting Erin Calcari at ecalcari@hanson-inc.com.