The infrastructure in the Netherlands is crucial for economic development on a national scale. Dr... more The infrastructure in the Netherlands is crucial for economic development on a national scale. Dramatic increases of transport and mobility accelerate ageing of infrastructure. The GNP of the Netherlands is strongly related to transport and to the two main ports (Port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol). The Netherlands is used to a high standard of infrastructure and expectations of the Dutch are that this will continue. But in the public mind new capital works are predominating and renewal of existing infrastructure is taken for granted. This paper focuses on the maintenance and renewal of existing infrastructure. The economic growth and finance conditions, that gave rise to its initial development, has changed and financing of renewal and acquisition of new projects needs to be accomplished in a new and more complex economic climate. In order to provide a reliable, well-manufactured infrastructure, which satisfies public expectations, planning of the necessary activities...
Asset managers of civil infrastructure are increasingly outsourcing their maintenance. Whereas ma... more Asset managers of civil infrastructure are increasingly outsourcing their maintenance. Whereas maintenance is a cyclic process, decisions to outsource decisions are often project-based, and confusing the discussion on the degree of outsourcing. This paper presents a six-stage model that facilitates the top-down discussion for analysing the degree of outsourcing maintenance. The model is based on the cyclic nature of maintenance. The six-stage model can: (1) give clear statements about the present state of outsourcing in each step of the model; (2) facilitate discussion about the desired future state of outsourcing and (3) identify of room for improvement in aligning the steps of the model. We successfully tested the model at the Dutch Road Agency in various workshops. We validated the model in discussions with experts, using the description of the past and present degree of outsourcing by the English Highways Agency. The model proves to be a simple means of communication to explain ...
For two years now, Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works an... more For two years now, Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, is required to have a financial administration, which is based on accrual accounting principles. This involves the use of a balance sheet and the equivalent of a profit and loss statement. These documents will the basis for planning and controlling of public spending. The question to be answered is: Will it be possible to calculate a ‘generally accepted’ value for infrastructure over its useful life by using sound accounting principles? The research is based on economic and accounting theory as applied internationally. Preliminary results indicate, that existing accounting principles are suitable for use in infrastructure management, enabling better control of public spending on infrastructure. Interviews with infrastructure providers in the Netherlands show that the transition towards an accrual-based administration will take more time than planned. Further test case...
For two years now, Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works an... more For two years now, Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, is required to have a financial administration, which is based on accrual accounting principles. This involves the use of a balance sheet and the equivalent of a profit and loss statement. These documents will the basis for planning and controlling of public spending. The question to be answered is: Will it be possible to calculate a ‘generally accepted’ value for infrastructure over its useful life by using sound accounting principles? The research is based on economic and accounting theory as applied internationally. Preliminary results indicate, that existing accounting principles are suitable for use in infrastructure management, enabling better control of public spending on infrastructure. Interviews with infrastructure providers in the Netherlands show that the transition towards an accrual-based administration will take more time than planned. Further test case...
2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2015
ABSTRACT Civil engineering projects increasingly involve a wide range of stakeholders with divers... more ABSTRACT Civil engineering projects increasingly involve a wide range of stakeholders with diverse interests and multidisciplinary teams. Engineers need soft skills to deal with these teams and stakeholders. “How to educate these soft skills to engineering students?” is the central question for technical universities. The course Collaborative Design and Engineering in the Dutch master’s programme Construction Management and Engineering is an answer to that question. Feedback, however, indicated that the course did not meet expectations. The course needed a radical redesign. This paper describes the redesign and resulting framework of the course. The principles of the redesign are constructive alignment, activated learning and not to lecture the skills as ‘dry stuff’. The resulting course is based on a ‘pressure cooker – coaching’ framework. The pressure cooker part creates a situation in which the students will experience stress. The students work in large groups on a complex assignment under time pressure. A mix of group and individual assignments creates tension between students. The coaching part provides structure and guidance. Theory on the necessary soft skills is introduced early in the course in workshops. Consultation meetings help to keep the students on track. The course has now evolved over three years. Theoretical evaluation shows that the ‘pressure cooker – coaching’ framework fulfills the requirements of constructive alignment. Practical evaluation, using feedback, shows a consistent high score. We consider the ‘pressure cooker – coaching’ framework broadly applicable and is successful enough to continue in our CDE course. Elements of the course can be improved. We consider introducing more theoretical depth and psychology without violating our idea of ‘no dry stuff’ and ‘action learning’.
2009 Second International Conference on Infrastructure Systems and Services: Developing 21st Century Infrastructure Networks (INFRA), 2009
ABSTRACT The Netherlands are used to a high standard of infrastructure and expectations of the Du... more ABSTRACT The Netherlands are used to a high standard of infrastructure and expectations of the Dutch are that this will continue. This imposes high demands both on the construction of new infrastructure as on the maintenance and operation of existing facilities. However, new capital works are predominant in the public mind, whereas renewal of existing infrastructure is taken for granted. The recent rise of asset management in various public infrastructure sectors can be seen as an attempt to approach infrastructure in a more balanced way and to introduce a systematic process of effectively constructing, maintaining, upgrading and operating assets, combining engineering principles with sound business practice and economic rationale. In addition it provides the tools to facilitate a more organized and flexible approach to making decisions necessary to achieve the public's expectations. At the same time in infrastructure management various forms of contracting are used in infrastructure management and innovative forms of contracting are introduced. This paper suggests that asset management objectives and contracting practices incorporate certain characteristics that can be contradictory. In this paper we present a conceptual framework for a comparative research into these tensions. By paying attention to the specifics of both physical and institutional attributes of these sectors we also aim at identifying the conditions that shape or constrain the possibilities to generalize between sectors.
The infrastructure in the Netherlands is crucial for economic development on a national scale. Dr... more The infrastructure in the Netherlands is crucial for economic development on a national scale. Dramatic increases of transport and mobility accelerate ageing of infrastructure. The GNP of the Netherlands is strongly related to transport and to the two main ports (Port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol). The Netherlands is used to a high standard of infrastructure and expectations of the Dutch are that this will continue. But in the public mind new capital works are predominating and renewal of existing infrastructure is taken for granted. This paper focuses on the maintenance and renewal of existing infrastructure. The economic growth and finance conditions, that gave rise to its initial development, has changed and financing of renewal and acquisition of new projects needs to be accomplished in a new and more complex economic climate. In order to provide a reliable, well-manufactured infrastructure, which satisfies public expectations, planning of the necessary activities...
Asset managers of civil infrastructure are increasingly outsourcing their maintenance. Whereas ma... more Asset managers of civil infrastructure are increasingly outsourcing their maintenance. Whereas maintenance is a cyclic process, decisions to outsource decisions are often project-based, and confusing the discussion on the degree of outsourcing. This paper presents a six-stage model that facilitates the top-down discussion for analysing the degree of outsourcing maintenance. The model is based on the cyclic nature of maintenance. The six-stage model can: (1) give clear statements about the present state of outsourcing in each step of the model; (2) facilitate discussion about the desired future state of outsourcing and (3) identify of room for improvement in aligning the steps of the model. We successfully tested the model at the Dutch Road Agency in various workshops. We validated the model in discussions with experts, using the description of the past and present degree of outsourcing by the English Highways Agency. The model proves to be a simple means of communication to explain ...
For two years now, Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works an... more For two years now, Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, is required to have a financial administration, which is based on accrual accounting principles. This involves the use of a balance sheet and the equivalent of a profit and loss statement. These documents will the basis for planning and controlling of public spending. The question to be answered is: Will it be possible to calculate a ‘generally accepted’ value for infrastructure over its useful life by using sound accounting principles? The research is based on economic and accounting theory as applied internationally. Preliminary results indicate, that existing accounting principles are suitable for use in infrastructure management, enabling better control of public spending on infrastructure. Interviews with infrastructure providers in the Netherlands show that the transition towards an accrual-based administration will take more time than planned. Further test case...
For two years now, Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works an... more For two years now, Rijkswaterstaat, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, is required to have a financial administration, which is based on accrual accounting principles. This involves the use of a balance sheet and the equivalent of a profit and loss statement. These documents will the basis for planning and controlling of public spending. The question to be answered is: Will it be possible to calculate a ‘generally accepted’ value for infrastructure over its useful life by using sound accounting principles? The research is based on economic and accounting theory as applied internationally. Preliminary results indicate, that existing accounting principles are suitable for use in infrastructure management, enabling better control of public spending on infrastructure. Interviews with infrastructure providers in the Netherlands show that the transition towards an accrual-based administration will take more time than planned. Further test case...
2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2015
ABSTRACT Civil engineering projects increasingly involve a wide range of stakeholders with divers... more ABSTRACT Civil engineering projects increasingly involve a wide range of stakeholders with diverse interests and multidisciplinary teams. Engineers need soft skills to deal with these teams and stakeholders. “How to educate these soft skills to engineering students?” is the central question for technical universities. The course Collaborative Design and Engineering in the Dutch master’s programme Construction Management and Engineering is an answer to that question. Feedback, however, indicated that the course did not meet expectations. The course needed a radical redesign. This paper describes the redesign and resulting framework of the course. The principles of the redesign are constructive alignment, activated learning and not to lecture the skills as ‘dry stuff’. The resulting course is based on a ‘pressure cooker – coaching’ framework. The pressure cooker part creates a situation in which the students will experience stress. The students work in large groups on a complex assignment under time pressure. A mix of group and individual assignments creates tension between students. The coaching part provides structure and guidance. Theory on the necessary soft skills is introduced early in the course in workshops. Consultation meetings help to keep the students on track. The course has now evolved over three years. Theoretical evaluation shows that the ‘pressure cooker – coaching’ framework fulfills the requirements of constructive alignment. Practical evaluation, using feedback, shows a consistent high score. We consider the ‘pressure cooker – coaching’ framework broadly applicable and is successful enough to continue in our CDE course. Elements of the course can be improved. We consider introducing more theoretical depth and psychology without violating our idea of ‘no dry stuff’ and ‘action learning’.
2009 Second International Conference on Infrastructure Systems and Services: Developing 21st Century Infrastructure Networks (INFRA), 2009
ABSTRACT The Netherlands are used to a high standard of infrastructure and expectations of the Du... more ABSTRACT The Netherlands are used to a high standard of infrastructure and expectations of the Dutch are that this will continue. This imposes high demands both on the construction of new infrastructure as on the maintenance and operation of existing facilities. However, new capital works are predominant in the public mind, whereas renewal of existing infrastructure is taken for granted. The recent rise of asset management in various public infrastructure sectors can be seen as an attempt to approach infrastructure in a more balanced way and to introduce a systematic process of effectively constructing, maintaining, upgrading and operating assets, combining engineering principles with sound business practice and economic rationale. In addition it provides the tools to facilitate a more organized and flexible approach to making decisions necessary to achieve the public's expectations. At the same time in infrastructure management various forms of contracting are used in infrastructure management and innovative forms of contracting are introduced. This paper suggests that asset management objectives and contracting practices incorporate certain characteristics that can be contradictory. In this paper we present a conceptual framework for a comparative research into these tensions. By paying attention to the specifics of both physical and institutional attributes of these sectors we also aim at identifying the conditions that shape or constrain the possibilities to generalize between sectors.
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Papers by Jules Verlaan