"foreword In October 1997@ the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) jointly sponsored a two-day executive workshop on asset management. The mission of the workshop was to evaluate current asset management practices@ technologies@ and tools@ and to develop a strategy for moving forward a cooperative asset management initiative. The New York State Department of Transportation and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute hosted the event@ which brought together high-level officials from AASHTO@ FHWA@ and state transportation agencies@ as well as directors of national organizations and professional associations@ and representatives of the private sector and academia. This document summarizes the deliberations and findings of the workshop@ and the recommendations made for moving this initiative forward. The October 1997 workshop builds upon the findings of the earlier AASHTO/FHWA Executive Seminar on Asset Management held during September 1996 in Washington@ D.C. During that initial event@ participants drawn from the leadership of AASHTO@ FHWA@ state transportation departments@ private industry@ utility companies@ quasi-government organizations@ and research and supplier communities shared experience and expertise to improve the quality of asset management. The results are documented in the publication entitled@ ""Asset Management: Advancing the State of the Art Into the 21st Century Through Public-Private Dialogue"" (USDOT Publication No. FHWA-RD-97-046)@ which describes the goals@ attributes@ and usefulness of asset management."