Abstract Manager

Sidewalks constitute an essential component of municipal transportation infrastructure, supporting pedestrian mobility and community accessibility. Despite their importance, sidewalks frequently receive limited investment compared with larger high-profile assets such as roads and bridges. A 2022 jurisdictional scan of North American municipalities found that only one-third of respondents had established formal sidewalk management systems, highlighting a significant gap in the asset management practice.

Within the broader framework of infrastructure asset management – which encompasses design, maintenance, renewal, and replacement – the condition of the asset is a critical input for effective decision-making. A comprehensive and reliable condition assessment approach enables the evaluation of current performance, prediction of future deterioration, and identification of appropriate maintenance and rehabilitation strategies.

To address this need, a standardized sidewalk condition assessment protocol has been developed to evaluate slab-based concrete sidewalks. The protocol evaluates a range of distresses, incorporating both severity and extent. It also includes other components of value to asset managers such as catch basin locations and other contextual information.

Assessment results are used to calculate a Sidewalk Condition Index (SCI), facilitating integration into network-level asset management reporting and capital planning. Detailed distress data also supports operational-level program development.

Case studies will demonstrate how the collected data can be used to produce project-level distress maps, network-level condition maps, and targeted maintenance and rehabilitation plans to address identified deficiencies.