Decision support model for selection of rehabilitation methods of water mains

Mohammad A. Ammar, Osama Moselhi, Tarek Zayed

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The deteriorating condition of water mains in Canada and US calls for rehabilitation strategies that accounts mainly for budget and level of service constraints. These water mains have received 'D' grade in the two countries. Decision support models can assist decision makers regarding when to rehabilitate and whether to repair, renovate or replace section(s) of water mains. The literature indicates that decision models should account for life cycle cost, uncertainty, long-term planning, targeted levels of service and budget constraints. The objectives of this paper are to: identify and group rehabilitation methods, present decision support model to rank and select most suitable rehabilitation method(s), and study the impact of rehabilitation methods on the functional and structural performance of water mains. The developed decision support model accounts for life cycle cost of each competing scenario along with the associated uncertainty. The model, unlike available models, can effectively account for vagueness, qualitative assessments and human judgment associated with input data. A case study of a water main network was analysed in order to demonstrate the use of the developed model and to illustrate its essential features. The results obtained indicate that the model can support the generation of well-informed decisions in a timely manner.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)847-855
Number of pages9
JournalStructure and Infrastructure Engineering
Volume8
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • fuzzy sets
  • infrastructure projects
  • life cycle costing
  • rehabilitation
  • uncertainty
  • water mains

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Building and Construction
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
  • Ocean Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering

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