CONFERENCE RECAP: ASSET MANAGEMENT
Whole-of-life asset management Designing for the long haul
F or ports, the most important part of an asset’s life may be the decades after the ribbon-cut- ting ceremony. A session at the APP’s 112 th Annual Conference explored how thoughtful design, engineer- ing, inspection and maintenance can extend the useful life of waterfront infrastructure and equipment. Waterfront infrastructure is built to last, but “built to last” does not mean “built to last without attention”. For ports operating in demanding marine environments, the difference between an asset that reaches its intended ser- vice life and one that requires pre- mature rehabilitation often comes down to decisions made long before deterioration becomes visible. That was the central message of a Whole-of-Life Asset Management ses- sion featuring John Daley, P.E., PAMP Engineering Manager, Don Young Port of Alaska, and Steven Martinez of Liftech Consultants Inc. Their presentations offered complementary
The implication is straightforward: life-cycle asset management begins at the design stage, not when an asset begins to fail.
recognition of the inspections, cor- rosion protection, repairs and budget decisions that made that possible. Daley described this as the “main- tenance paradox”. If maintenance succeeds, it can appear unnecessary. If maintenance fails, it can appear incompetent. That creates a difficult environment for port asset managers. New projects are visible. Ribbon cuttings generate headlines, photographs and political enthusiasm. Routine maintenance, by contrast, is often perceived as an expense rather than an investment. Daley humorously characterized this dynamic as a kind of “political thermo- dynamics”, suggesting that political energy tends to migrate from mainten- ance budgets toward projects that offer a visible ribbon-cutting opportunity. His broader point, however, was ser- ious: ports must deliberately protect maintenance funding if they want to protect their infrastructure. Physics does not negotiate Behind the political and financial challenges is a more fundamental real- ity: infrastructure deteriorates because of physical processes. Daley used the concept of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics to illustrate the point. Corrosion and degradation are natural processes, and extending the life of an asset requires intervention — either adding energy to the system or preserving the energy and condition already present.
perspectives on the challenge: Daley focused on the practical realities of maintaining waterfront facilities, while Martinez examined how engineer- ing decisions made during planning, design and construction can influence an asset throughout its entire life cycle. The politics of maintenance Daley opened with a provocative observation about the visibility — or invisibility — of infrastructure maintenance. “Every dock is politically invisible until it collapses,” his presentation stated. The reason is familiar to port professionals: successful maintenance rarely attracts attention. When a facil- ity continues to operate safely year after year, there may be little public
John Daley, Don Young Port of Alaska, and Steven Martinez, Liftech Consultants Inc., provided sage advice on how to make assets last.
October 2026 — PACIFIC PORTS — 43
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