A Methodology for Highway Asset Valuation in Indiana

Michelle S. Dojutrek · Parth Makwana · Samuel Labi

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Life Cycle Costing Analysis Accounting Theory and Financial Reporting Infrastructure Maintenance and Monitoring

Abstract

The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) requires transportation agencies to report the values of their tangible assets. The shortcomings of traditional valuation methods include the implicit monolithic assumption of asset structures and the parochial range of value-related asset attributes considered in the evaluation process. Thus, this research developed enhanced methods and concepts for valuation. The elemental decomposition and multi-criteria (EDMC) method uses asset component costs, remaining service lives and condition. The replacement-downtime-salvage method considers life-cycle costs, including workzone user costs, and recycling benefits or disposal costs. The decommission-and-reuse method is based on the real-estate value of land occupied by the asset. The probabilistic method considers the asset value as a function of its survival likelihood. This study determined the total value of Indiana’s state highway assets using traditional and proposed methods and new considerations. For the proposed EDMC method, this estimate was $45 billion. The value of pavements and bridges were $37.38B and $3.40B, respectively, together constituting 90% of total asset value. The total value of smaller assets (guardrails, underdrains, culverts, and road signs) was approximately $1.2B, and rights-of-way, $2.840B, constituting approximately 3% and 7%, respectively of the total asset value. On the basis of the unit asset values derived for Indiana, the existing asset inventory of other states, and the state-specific cost factors, the total estimated value of state-owned and overall highway bridge and pavement assets in the United States was estimated at $3.4T and $16.2T, respectively, using EDMC, and $2.9T and 13.8T, respectively, using GASB 34. The study also explored ways in which asset value could be incorporated in investment evaluation.