By Jarrod Gerbaud
Water utilities across the United States are entering a historic period of infrastructure renewal. More than $50 billion in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is helping communities modernize pipes, treatment facilities and distribution systems at an unprecedented pace.
Maximizing the value of those investments requires more than successful project delivery. Information generated during planning, design and construction must remain connected throughout the life of the infrastructure. A continuous digital asset lifecycle creates a trusted flow of data from project conception through operations, maintenance and eventual replacement, helping utilities improve performance, control long-term costs and make informed infrastructure decisions.
Most infrastructure costs occur after construction is complete, making performance a critical measure of investment success. Lifecycle asset management supports that goal by ensuring documentation remains accessible, current and actionable for decades.
The Real Cost of Infrastructure
Infrastructure projects are often evaluated based on budget, schedule and delivery milestones. Operational performance ultimately determines whether those investments achieve their intended value.
As much as 80 percent of an asset’s total cost can occur after construction. Pipelines require inspection and repair, treatment equipment demands ongoing maintenance, and critical systems must be monitored and upgraded to maintain reliability over decades of service.
Systems designed without sufficient consideration for ongoing operations can create persistent challenges. Limited access to equipment can complicate repairs, inconsistent equipment standards can increase maintenance complexity, and fragmented documentation can slow response times when issues arise.
Lifecycle asset management encourages a broader perspective by considering how decisions made during planning and design influence efficiency, reliability and total cost of ownership for years to come.
Designing for Decades
Successful lifecycle strategies begin during project development, when owners, engineers, contractors and operations teams have the greatest opportunity to influence future outcomes.
Equipment selection, material choices and system layout shape maintenance demands long after construction ends. Standardized equipment can simplify repairs and spare-parts management, while accessible infrastructure and durable materials help reduce service interruptions, maintenance effort and replacement costs over time. Seemingly small decisions made during design often produce significant impacts.
Early collaboration allows project teams to evaluate alternatives through both a construction and operational lens, helping utilities maximize value while minimizing future maintenance burdens.
Building a Foundation of Trusted Data
Infrastructure projects generate large volumes of valuable data, but many organizations struggle to preserve and organize it once construction is finished. Project documentation is frequently distributed across multiple systems, departments and formats, creating gaps that limit its usefulness.
Lifecycle asset management emphasizes the preservation of institutional knowledge from the earliest planning stages through operations. Verified records, including location data, attributes, inspection results, commissioning information and as-built documentation, can be incorporated into GIS and asset management systems where they remain accessible as long as needed.
Access to trusted records improves maintenance planning, accelerates troubleshooting, strengthens regulatory compliance and leads to more informed decisions. Analysis of performance history provides a strong foundation for future investments.
Turning Data into Long-Term Value
The transfer of information between project delivery and operations is one of the most critical and often overlooked steps in infrastructure management.
A continuous digital asset lifecycle preserves knowledge as an enduring resource. Once assets are constructed, verified field data, commissioning records and related documentation should become part of the utility’s GIS and asset management environment. GIS provides the authoritative spatial record, while administrative systems support inspections, maintenance activities, work management and performance tracking.
This transition should not be viewed as a one-time project handoff. As new intelligence accumulates, it builds a history of performance, reliability and risk. Shared access gives engineers, project managers and maintenance teams greater visibility, helping decisions remain informed. Those insights become critical input for capital planning and maintenance programs, creating a continuous loop for resilient infrastructure. As assets reach the end of their useful life, this information helps utilities prioritize replacement and provides project teams with trusted records that improve the delivery of the next generation of infrastructure.
Most infrastructure costs occur after construction is complete, making performance a critical measure of investment success.
Proof in Practice
Utilities across the United States are already demonstrating the value of integrating project delivery and operations through shared data and workflows.
Pittsburgh Water recognized that disconnected workflows would not support its next phase of capital investment. Before launching its multi-year, $470 million Water Reliability Plan, PWSA partnered with Trimble and Esri to create a shared spatial foundation for assets, projects and data.
A connected GIS-driven environment now integrates planning, construction and maintenance activities. Access to inspections and condition assessments encourages a proactive maintenance strategy, while centralized project schedules and financial forecasting improve visibility and decision-making across the organization.
In New York, the Great Neck Water Pollution Control District (GNWPCD) sought a faster and more coordinated response to extreme weather events that could threaten water quality. Today, integration between a custom API and a Trimble lifecycle asset management solution automatically generates and assigns work orders during severe storms, improving readiness, coordination and reliability.
The Metropolitan Sewer Subdistrict (MetroConnects) in Greenville County, South Carolina, is modernizing infrastructure to improve water quality and protect public health. MetroConnects used GIS-centric permitting software from Trimble for permitting, development review, maintenance activities and service requests. Digital workflows have improved system-wide efficiency, inspection scheduling, online services and customer communication.
The Next Era of Asset Management
Water utilities have a unique opportunity to transform today’s capital investments into long-term operational advantages.
Every project generates knowledge, yet many organizations struggle to retain and apply it as the years go by. A continuous digital asset lifecycle creates an environment where construction records, maintenance history and operational insights remain available after a project is built. As experienced employees retire and new technologies such as artificial intelligence become more prevalent, the ability to preserve and leverage institutional knowledge will become increasingly important.
Utilities also face growing pressure from extreme weather events, aging infrastructure and evolving regulatory requirements. Organizations that can quickly access accurate data and understand how their systems have performed under real-world conditions will be better equipped to respond to emergencies, prioritize investments and protect public health and environmental quality.
As infrastructure systems become more complex, a digital record may become one of the most valuable assets utilities manage.
Jarrod Gerbaud is a water and utility industry expert with Trimble. He has more than 31 years of experience helping municipalities, utilities and public agencies modernize how they manage infrastructure. His expertise spans asset lifecycle management, GIS, capital project delivery and operations and maintenance. As a utility subject matter expert, he provides industry guidance on technology and strategies for connecting infrastructure data across the asset lifecycle.
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