Highway drainage has an important role to play in supporting the long-term performance of the network. But effective maintenance does not begin when a system needs cleaning. It starts with how that system is designed, specified and managed.

ACO's Highway Drainage Maintenance Guide explores practical ways to make drainage assets easier to inspect, clean and maintain throughout their design life, helping highway teams consider maintenance earlier in the decision-making process.

• Find out more about the CPD here

This practical CPD looks at how drainage design and specification decisions can influence maintenance throughout the life of a highway asset. Rather than treating maintenance as something considered after installation, the session explores how it can be built into the design process from the outset.

The session will cover:

• Drainage as a highway asset - why drainage should form part of the wider asset management and preventative maintenance conversation.
• Designing for maintenance - considering realistic inspection and cleaning intervals, access requirements and maintenance operations before the design is fixed.
• Managing sediment - understanding how sediment accumulates, how it can affect performance and where it is best captured and maintained.
• Following the complete drainage network - looking beyond the visible inlet to consider conveyance, treatment, storage and outfall.
• Specification and load class - selecting drainage for the real operating environment, including traffic loading, installation and future maintenance requirements.
• SuDS and treatment trains - considering how engineered and landscaped drainage can work together to manage sediment, pollutants and maintenance requirements.
• Practical application - using real-world questions and examples to help attendees apply maintenance-led thinking to their own highway schemes.

The aim is to give attendees practical questions and principles they can take back to future projects, helping to make highway drainage more accessible, maintainable and easier to manage over its working life.