Irina Stipanovic

Network level bridges maintenance planning using Multi-Attribute Utility Theory

Abstract Bridge infrastructure managers are facing multiple challenges to improve the availability and serviceability of ageing infrastructure, while the maintenance planning is constrained by budget restrictions. Many research efforts are ongoing, for the last few decades, ranging from development of bridge management system, decision support tools, optimisation models, life cycle cost analysis, etc. Since transport infrastructures are deeply embedded in society, they are not only subject to technical requirements, but are required to meet the requirements of societal and economic developments. Therefore, bridge maintenance planning should accommodate multiple performance goals which need to be quantified by various performance indicators. In this paper, an application of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) for bridge maintenance planning is illustrated with a case study of bridges from the Netherlands road network. MAUT seeks to optimise multiple objectives by suggesting a trade-off among them and finally assigns a ranking to the considered bridges. Moreover, utility functions of MAUT appropriately account for the involved uncertainty and risk attitude of infrastructure managers. The main contribution of this study is in presenting a proof-of-concept on how MAUT provides a systematic approach to improve the decision-making of maintenance planning by making use of available data, accommodating multiple performance goals, their uncertainty, and preferences of infrastructure managers.

Multi-criteria decision making : AHP method applied for network bridge prioritization

In bridge management systems, multi-objective decision-making has emerged as a decision support technique to integrate various technical information and stakeholder values. Different multicriteria decision making techniques and tools have been developed in the last three decades. This paper presents an overview of different approaches to multi-objective decision making at the object and network level, with the purpose of incorporating different aspects of bridge performance goals, which may vary according to technical, environmental, economic and social factors. The example of application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), as one of the multi criteria decision making method, to a illustrative case study is presented in the paper.

A risk-based model for maintenance decision support of civil structures using RAMS

As a cornerstone of transportation asset management, risk-based approaches have been used to support maintenance decisions of civil structures. However, ambiguous and subjective risk criteria and inconsistency on the use of risk-based approaches can lead to a fuzzy understanding of the risks assessed. Whilst RAMS criteria (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety) are consolidated aspects on multiple industries, such as nuclear or railways, its application in civil structures is still limited. This paper presents a risk-based model to assess the impact of maintenance actions on civil structure and its elements through the use of RAMS criteria. The model proposes a systematic route to prioritising decisions about maintenance interventions and renewals and supports a clear understanding of the risks involved as the reasons for making those decisions, as well as the residual risks where a decision not to intervene is made. Ultimately, the model acts as a catalyst to rethink maintenance risks and creates a platform to enhance communication between maintenance decision-makers.

COST Action TU 1406. eBook of the 1st Workshop Meeting, Geneva, September 21st-22nd 2015

Bridges, being complex and large infrastructure projects, can suffer from meager levels of performance and lukewarm users’ satisfaction. In order to avoid such undesirable results, it is essential not only to undertake a rigid feasibility study and establish an efficient contractual strategy, but also to optimize the relevant performance indicators (be it technical, sustainable or managerial) through the concepts of constructability and sustainability. Constructability, being a holistic lifecycle project edifice, relies heavily on the assessment and improvement of performance indicators (be it technical, sustainable or managerial), towards design and construction integration, close stakeholders’ cooperation and, ultimately, the attainment of the best possible overall project performance. Its interconnection with sustainability is close, since the latter is one of the most important dimensions of quality – one of the key project performance objectives – and extrapolates towards the rest, which are cost (of integration), time (of completion) and client satisfaction. Risk analysis, being used extensively in project management but not as of yet integrated deeply in the unified themes of constructability and sustainability, can provide the cognitive and mathematical basis for the establishment of a new methodology of assessing the performance indicators, thus helping in their improvement for the existing and ongoing projects and their documentation into lessons-learned databases for future projects. In this early work, a coarse conceptual framework for the integration of risk analysis in the combined notions of constructability and sustainability in order to assess performance indicators for bridges is defined, being an early step in an ongoing research effort towards the establishment of a holistic methodology.

COST Action TU1406: eBook of the 1st Workshop Meeting

Bridges, being complex and large infrastructure projects, can suffer from meager levels of performance and lukewarm users’ satisfaction. In order to avoid such undesirable results, it is essential not only to undertake a rigid feasibility study and establish an efficient contractual strategy, but also to optimize the relevant performance indicators (be it technical, sustainable or managerial) through the concepts of constructability and sustainability. Constructability, being a holistic lifecycle project edifice, relies heavily on the assessment and improvement of performance indicators (be it technical, sustainable or managerial), towards design and construction integration, close stakeholders’ cooperation and, ultimately, the attainment of the best possible overall project performance. Its interconnection with sustainability is close, since the latter is one of the most important dimensions of quality – one of the key project performance objectives – and extrapolates towards the rest, which are cost (of integration), time (of completion) and client satisfaction. Risk analysis, being used extensively in project management but not as of yet integrated deeply in the unified themes of constructability and sustainability, can provide the cognitive and mathematical basis for the establishment of a new methodology of assessing the performance indicators, thus helping in their improvement for the existing and ongoing projects and their documentation into lessons-learned databases for future projects. In this early work, a coarse conceptual framework for the integration of risk analysis in the combined notions of constructability and sustainability in order to assess performance indicators for bridges is defined, being an early step in an ongoing research effort towards the establishment of a holistic methodology.

COST Action TU1406: eBook of the 1st Workshop Meeting: eBook of the 1st Workshop Meeting, Geneva, September 21st-22nd 2015

Bridges, being complex and large infrastructure projects, can suffer from meager levels of performance and lukewarm users’ satisfaction. In order to avoid such undesirable results, it is essential not only to undertake a rigid feasibility study and establish an efficient contractual strategy, but also to optimize the relevant performance indicators (be it technical, sustainable or managerial) through the concepts of constructability and sustainability. Constructability, being a holistic lifecycle project edifice, relies heavily on the assessment and improvement of performance indicators (be it technical, sustainable or managerial), towards design and construction integration, close stakeholders’ cooperation and, ultimately, the attainment of the best possible overall project performance. Its interconnection with sustainability is close, since the latter is one of the most important dimensions of quality – one of the key project performance objectives – and extrapolates towards the rest, which are cost (of integration), time (of completion) and client satisfaction. Risk analysis, being used extensively in project management but not as of yet integrated deeply in the unified themes of constructability and sustainability, can provide the cognitive and mathematical basis for the establishment of a new methodology of assessing the performance indicators, thus helping in their improvement for the existing and ongoing projects and their documentation into lessons-learned databases for future projects. In this early work, a coarse conceptual framework for the integration of risk analysis in the combined notions of constructability and sustainability in order to assess performance indicators for bridges is defined, being an early step in an ongoing research effort towards the establishment of a holistic methodology.

COST Action TU1406

Bridges, being complex and large infrastructure projects, can suffer from meager levels of performance and lukewarm users’ satisfaction. In order to avoid such undesirable results, it is essential not only to undertake a rigid feasibility study and establish an efficient contractual strategy, but also to optimize the relevant performance indicators (be it technical, sustainable or managerial) through the concepts of constructability and sustainability. Constructability, being a holistic lifecycle project edifice, relies heavily on the assessment and improvement of performance indicators (be it technical, sustainable or managerial), towards design and construction integration, close stakeholders’ cooperation and, ultimately, the attainment of the best possible overall project performance. Its interconnection with sustainability is close, since the latter is one of the most important dimensions of quality – one of the key project performance objectives – and extrapolates towards the rest, which are cost (of integration), time (of completion) and client satisfaction. Risk analysis, being used extensively in project management but not as of yet integrated deeply in the unified themes of constructability and sustainability, can provide the cognitive and mathematical basis for the establishment of a new methodology of assessing the performance indicators, thus helping in their improvement for the existing and ongoing projects and their documentation into lessons-learned databases for future projects. In this early work, a coarse conceptual framework for the integration of risk analysis in the combined notions of constructability and sustainability in order to assess performance indicators for bridges is defined, being an early step in an ongoing research effort towards the establishment of a holistic methodology.