The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) faced a big challenge. They were using four World War II era metal buildings to store their offsite inventory. Over the years these buildings succumbed to the heat and humidity of South Louisiana. The Agency wanted to reduce the inventory before looking into other options for managing the 26,000 linear feet of material.
DOTD is responsible for maintaining public transportation, roadways, bridges, canals, select levees, floodplain management, port facilities, commercial vehicles, and airports, in the state of Louisiana. The Agency has approximately five thousand personnel and operations are run through nine district offices across the state.
The Agency had only one staff member partially devoted to records and information management. There was no current inventory of the materials stored off-site and no means of tracking an inventory. The Agency’s retention schedule had been developed after many of the items stored off-site were packed, so boxes could contain a number of records series and have a variety of disposal dates.
DOTD is mandated to keep the copy of record of project plans for the major roadways and bridges in the state of Louisiana. Many records are of great importance because of the long life and high usage of DOTD’s assets. Plans stored off-site required immediate review and conversion to electronic files or microfilm to ensure their long term availability for the people of Louisiana.
DOTD absorbed the Department of Public Works and all of the documents, maps, and plans that they maintained. The off-site storage buildings contained historic river and city maps, blueprints of state buildings, and plans for levees and dams. These records were of historic importance to the state and were not being maintained in such a way that would ensure their continued availability.
DOTD’s record keeping practices did not ensure the long term viability of important state records
Access Sciences inventoried 26K linear feet of records and developed a database of records stored offsite
DOTD was able to maintain important historic records and reclaim 15K feet of off-site storage space
Access Sciences employees conducted an inventory of the 26,000 linear feet of material stored off-site. The inventory was conducted at a folder level for each box and drawer. Appropriate record series were matched to boxes and retention end dates applied. A custom database was developed and populated for ongoing inventory management.
Of the 26,000 linear feet of inventory, only 41% required storage at an off-site storage facility, which represents a savings of 15,000 linear feet or storage space. The remaining material was ready for disposition.
Since 2010, we have supported DOTD in its mission to deliver transportation and public works systems that enhance quality of life and facilitate economic growth. Our services to DOTD include an embedded team of information management professionals who: