Calgary applies new asset management software across multiple departments

As municipalities take stock of aging infrastructure and prepare for increasingly extreme weather, there’s growing urgency to prioritize and optimize investments. To meet these challenges, cities are shifting from outdated asset management systems to advanced software that consolidates data across departments and leverages analytics for smarter decision-making. 

In June, the City of Calgary became the first Canadian city to initiate a phased deployment of the Enterprise Decision Analytics (EDA) platform from Arcadis across multiple assets, applying the software to transportation networks, water and wastewater systems, emergency services, public parks, and civic buildings, enabling oversight within a single integrated system.  

“Right now, we’re just getting started with this initiative. We’re in the process of introducing this software to internal staff, building business requirements and internal and external reporting mechanisms,” a spokesperson for the City of Calgary told ES&E Magazine.  

This is not Calgary’s first experience with asset management software, but it hopes to build on already established processes. While the city made many infrastructure headlines over the last 12 months, its move to this software is unrelated to the impact of the 2024 Bearspaw feeder main break. This sent the city into crisis mode for several weeks and placed intensive water restrictions on residents and businesses.  

With some $2 billion in major projects in the works, particularly for water infrastructure, Calgary hopes the new software switch will, over time, benefit planned work related to two new feeder mains, a new water treatment plant and major upgrades to two existing wastewater treatment plants, as well as road and transit projects. 

While there are never guarantees when it comes to infrastructure, Rob Corazzola, digital intelligence global sales director at Arcadis, says there is still a high level of empowerment that can be reached when it comes to long-term investment dynamics and lifecycle planning. While results vary based on how the platform is integrated, when applied previously, he says EDA has improved system efficiency by 30%, reduced planning and reporting times by 80%, and increased project execution accuracy by 20%.  

EDA could help a city like Calgary to better gauge physical asset deterioration and determine how and when to act, he says. “Through EDA, the City of Calgary can confidently make forward-thinking and data-backed decisions that optimize spending, extend the life of critical assets, and enhance the quality of life for its residents,” says Corazzola, who considers the Calgary contract a milestone for digital transformation in Canadian cities. 

EDA allows municipal officials to “drill down” with graphic views of all aspects of an asset that may be in the worst condition, or, list all investments by ward within the city to understand where and when funds were already allocated.  

Local officials can even track the condition of municipal fleets. In the U.S. District of Columbia’s 2023 planning report, EDA data shows that the district had 65 firefighting pumper trucks with an average age of approximately nine years and average maintenance costs approaching $131,013 per vehicle, the highest of all its vehicle types. The data further shows that there are 15 pumper trucks ranked in the “poor” or “replace” condition category based on various criteria such as vehicle age, mileage and engine hours. 

Corazzola notes that Calgary’s transition to EDA will be a seamless but phased-in data migration approach that could take up to a year to complete. Arcadis will work with the city on a detailed scope analysis and blueprinting to identify how the system will be configured to fit the city’s needs as it begins its two-year contract with them. 

“We will leverage the subject matter that the city has with their engineering and operations team. The kind of intelligence or logic they want to use can be configured in their system, and the models based on their approaches,” says Corazzola, who notes that the system is a significant time saver for users. 

Steve Wyton, manager of asset management planning at the City of Calgary, said Arcadis was selected after completing an open and competitive process. 

Crown agency Infrastructure Ontario moved to a five-year deal with the same Arcadis EDA platform in 2023 to manage more than 4,000 facilities across the province. Since then, the agency has worked to maximize the value of its data by collecting condition assessment data across its entire portfolio of facilities and property assets.

A year later, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation also moved to EDA with a scope that extends beyond highways and bridges to encompass lighting, traffic signals, overhead signs, airports, and intelligent transportation systems. 

The City of Toronto has also been working with the EDA platform in coordination with real estate service company CBRE for some 1,800 facilities. 

While the EDA system has only been taking root in Canada for a few years, it has been popular internationally, particularly in the U.K, where the system launched in 2002. In 2018 Arcadis purchased the software and analytics firm, SEAMS, which had developed the Enterprise Decision Analytics software.