Overall strategy
In accordance with national guidance and best practice, the Council adopt an asset management approach to maintenance.
The UK Roads Leadership Group has produced national guidance for highway Infrastructure asset management and define asset management as:
‘A systematic approach to meeting the strategic need for the management and maintenance of highway infrastructure assets through long term planning and optimal allocation of resources in order to manage risk and meet the performance requirements of the authority in the most efficient and sustainable manner.’
The Council’s Highway Infrastructure Asset Management Plan (HIAMP) is a suite of documents that ensure that key asset groups have the right maintenance strategies in place, that fit within a wider framework of prioritisation and transparency.
More detailed information on the Council’s asset management approach to highway asset maintenance.
Maintenance budgets do not provide sufficient funding to meet the annual cost of deterioration and consequently the condition of certain elements of the highway asset will get worse. The Council’s strategy in this area will be to manage and mitigate that decline.
The Council’s maintenance strategy focuses on four key pillars:
Hierarchy
Constraints on funding and resources mean that it is not possible to maintain every part of the network to the same standard.
The Council will continue to prioritise available funding on the more strategic parts of the network, such as A and B carriageway classes, with the remaining budget spread across Devon’s lengthy road network of ‘C’ and unclassified roads
Preventative maintenance
Through the appropriate planned application of thin surface treatments prior to the development of surface and structural defects, road conditions can be managed and maintained far more cost effectively, as well as road lifespans extended – potentially indefinitely. The Council continues to invest in such programmes as surface dressing and developing asset intelligence to ensure that timely preventative interventions take place.
Whole lifecycle approach
A whole lifecycle asset management approach sits at the heart of the Code of Practice, which makes clear recommendations on treating the highway asset in its entirety and not as separate components. The Council aims to, where possible, combine maintenance functions within single road closures, minimising disruption and maximising value for money.
Innovation and learning
To best face the challenges of maintaining a vital yet fragile network, especially within an insufficient funding framework, means that the Council continues to encourage innovation and reflection by engaging internally and externally with employees and partners.
Like all authorities, Devon is facing significant financial pressures. The additional effects of climate change bring real added challenges for the Council in maintaining its assets. The Highways and Infrastructure Development Service has continued to focus on innovation and engagement with neighbours and peers to ensure it maximises efficiency and effectiveness to drive value for money.
The Council is fortunate to have maintained its materials laboratory. Established in 1952 to monitor the quality of asphalt being produced in the County, it continues to be a leading light nationally and UKAS accredited since 1989. As well as monitoring performance and undertaking investigations the materials laboratory takes the lead on evaluation of new trials and adding vital governance through a Technical Appraisal Panel (TAP).
A separate budget has been established to enable innovation campaigns to take place. The Innovation Programme saw the funding and delivery of ten campaigns during 2024/25, including:
- in-situ recycling
- asphalt preservation
- pipe relining
- off road multi-use trail surfacing trial
- park and ride condition survey trial
- road stud trial
- lining trial
- structural survey trial
- tree survey and management trial
- gully reinstatement trial
The learning from these projects is still being captured with some continuing into the 2025/26 financial year as either standalone projects or incorporated into business-as-usual operations.