Ahmed Senouci

Optimizing Postdisaster Reconstruction Planning for Damaged Transportation Networks

The limited availability of reconstruction resources is one of the main challenges that often confront postdisaster recovery of damaged transportation networks. This requires an effective and efficient deployment and utilization of these limited resources in order to minimize both the performance loss of the damaged transportation network and the reconstruction costs. This paper presents the development of a robust model for planning postdisaster reconstruction efforts that is capable of: (1) optimizing the allocation of limited reconstruction resources to competing recovery projects; (2) assessing and quantifying the overall functional loss of damaged transportation networks during the recovery efforts; (3) evaluating the impact of limited availability of resources on the reconstruction costs; and (4) minimizing the performance loss of transportation networks and reconstruction costs. The model utilizes the user equilibrium algorithm to enable the assessment of the transportation network performance losses and a multiobjective genetic algorithm to enable the generation of optimal tradeoffs between the two recovery planning objectives. An application example is analyzed to demonstrate the use and capabilities of the recovery planning model.

Optimizing Resource Utilization during the Recovery of Civil Infrastructure Systems

Postdisaster recovery efforts of damaged civil infrastructure systems need to be optimized in order to alleviate the adverse impacts of natural disasters on local societies and economies. This paper presents an innovative framework that integrates two newly developed models for resource utilization and multiobjective optimization that are designed to optimize these recovery efforts. The developed models provide new and unique capabilities, including (1) allocating limited reconstruction resources to competing recovery projects, (2) estimating the reconstruction duration and cost associated with implementing specific recovery plans, and (3) generating optimal trade-offs between minimizing the reconstruction duration and cost. An application example is analyzed to evaluate the performance of the developed models and demonstrate their capabilities in identifying a wide spectrum of optimal reconstruction plans, where each provides a unique and nondominated trade-off between minimizing the recovery duration and cost. This allows decision makers in emergency management agencies to select and implement reconstruction plans that address various societal and economical needs in the aftermath of natural disasters.

PLANNING POST-DISASTER RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS OF DAMAGED TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS

Planning the reconstruction efforts of damaged transportation networks in the aftermath of natural disasters is a challenging task due to the limited availability of construction resources. The utilization of these limited resources can have a significant impact on the societal needs of minimizing the reconstruction costs and the performance loss of the damaged transportation network. These resources therefore need to be deployed and utilized in an effective and efficient manner that accomplishes these two critical objectives. This paper presents the development of a planning model for post-disaster reconstruction efforts for damaged transportation networks. The model is developed in four stages: (1) allocating the available reconstruction resources to competing recovery projects; (2) estimating the reconstruction costs; (3) measuring the performance loss during the recovery period; and (4) optimizing the reconstruction efforts to minimize reconstruction costs and performance loss. An application example is analyzed to illustrate the use of the model and demonstrate its capabilities in planning post-disaster reconstruction efforts.

Integrated performance assessment model for water distribution networks

Abstract The American infrastructure report card in 2013 rated the US water system infrastructure with grade of ‘D’. The Canadian infrastructure report card in 2012 stated that around 15.4% of Canada’s water infrastructure has a condition of fair to very poor. Thus, there is a critical need to develop efficient inspection, maintenance and rehabilitation plans for water distribution networks. However, such plans require an assessment tool to evaluate the performance and condition of water distribution networks. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to develop an integrated performance assessment model for water distribution networks. Two modules were developed to assess the performance of water pipelines and accessories, respectively. A third module was developed to assess the performance of water segments that includes pipelines and accessories. Moreover, a fourth module was built to assess the performance of each sub-network and the entire network based on the segments’ connection type using a reliability-based approach. To assess the performance of the water distribution network, the critical factors affecting its pipelines and accessories were identified and studied. The fuzzy analytic network process technique was used to obtain the importance weights of the identified factors.

Locating Leaks in Water Mains Using Noise Loggers

Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) for this research project under Award No. QNRF-NPRP 4-529-2-193.

Multi-Criteria Decision Making Models for Water Pipelines

Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) for this research project under Award No. QNRF-NPRP 4-529-2-193.

Review of Existing Transportation Sustainability Initiatives and Their Applicability to Qatar

Sustainable development is Qatars main national goal. The fact that Qatar has secured the World Cup bid for 2022 will make it the first Arab country to host the World Cup. This honor and Qatars plan to advance its development has led the state to start upgrading its entire transportation infrastructure. Qatars commitment to sustainability and the states upcoming investments in the transportation sector has led the authors to investigate current transportation sustainability assessment systems, which can be transferred to Qatar. A thorough literature review revealed that the current initiatives have a number of limitations that render them inapplicable to Qatar. This paper presents these findings and suggests the main features of a sustainability rating system applicable to Qatar. This will be the first step in developing the Qatar Transportation Sustainability Assessment System (QTS).

Developing a framework for pre-design process simulation for green buildings

There is an increasing awareness towards the construction of sustainable green buildings. Green rating systems worldwide, such as LEED, are providing standards to aid in the construction of green building. During the pre-design phase of building projects, the designer evaluates various LEED credits in order to achieve maximum levels of certification considering project characteristics and owner requirements. This study proposes a simulation framework representing the LEED pre-design evaluation process to provide a decision support tool for the designer. The simulation control module is designed to regulate the overall process of green building predesign, which mimics linear evaluation of LEED credits in eco-charrette meetings. This framework will give the designer the power to investigate various what-if scenarios of different input combinations and the impact of his/her decisions on the building sustainability certification level.