Bridge management based on multiple-objective optimization

Satisfactory bridge management decisions should be made through balanced consideration of long-term bridge performance and life-cycle cost. The current life-cycle cost minimization criterion does not always lead to optimal maintenance management solutions that meet bridge managers' specific requirements on lifetime bridge performance under budgetary constraints. Recently bridge management planning has been conducted using combinatorial and evolutionary optimization techniques and considering simultaneously multiple objective functions. This paper summarizes new developments in multi-criteria life-cycle maintenance management of deteriorating highway bridges at project-level and at network-level. Particular emphasis is placed on uncertainty propagation over the life-cycle with and without maintenance interventions. Application examples show that the multiobjective optimization methodology can produce a large pool of optimized tradeoff maintenance management solutions, which significantly facilitate decision-making by selecting a compromise solution that preferably balances different performances and life-cycle costs.

• Introduction

• Multi-Objective Optimization Techniques

• Bridge Maintenance Management at Project-Level

• Bridge Maintenance Management at Network-Level

• Conclusions

• Acknowledgments

• References