Resilience-based asset management framework and its application on pavement networks

Infrastructure systems play a pivotal role in the development of economy and public services, which positively affects the quality of life of the communities. Accordingly, a growing need is required to support the ability of those systems to sustain extreme events and recover after, the later forms the general resilience concept. Nevertheless, resilience has been defined through many divergent interpretations according to both the method and domain of application. Thus, this paper introduces a resilience definition integrating both resilience and asset management concepts. It is important to mention that the average age of the core infrastructure in Canada (i.e. bridges, roads, water, wastewater, etc.) was about 14.7 years in year 2013, according to Canada infrastructure report 2016. Still, those infrastructure�s resiliency is inferior due to the backlog in investment needs, aging, deterioration, severe weather conditions and previous disruption events effects. Accordingly, this paper aims at developing a resilience-based asset management framework for pavement networks maintenance and rehabilitation. This was carried out through development of five components; 1) a central database of asset inventory and network data, 2) a pavement condition and level of service (LOS) assessment model using asset-based resilience indicators, 3) a simulation model of the effect of Freeze-Thaw on pavement network using disruption-based indicators, and 4) financial and temporal models incorporating recovery-based indicators. This pavement resilience assessment framework is beneficial for asset management decision making where the intervention plans would not only target enhancing or restoring pavement condition or LOS, but also incorporate the implementation of proper recovery strategies for both regular and/or extreme events.