01046392

Component

This paper addresses the determination of optimal bridge maintenance and replacement policies for a system of heterogeneous facilities. The problem of optimizing maintenance and replacement policies at the system level is formulated in a reliability-based framework, based on policies that are optimal at the facility level. The facility-level policies are determined using a finite-state, finite horizon Markov decision process in which the state of the Markov chain contains information on the history of maintenance and deterioration. This article provides formal proofs of the optimality of the system-level results in the continuous case, and a numerical study shows that the results obtained in the discrete-case implementation of the solution are valid approximations of the continuous-case results. The computational efficiency of the system-level solution makes the formulation suitable for systems of realistic sizes.

01042056

07-0324

English

14p

2007

Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting

CD-ROM

Figures (3) ; References (13)

Bridge management systems; Case studies; Heterogeneity; Markov chains; Optimization; Policy making; Reliability

Bridge maintenance; Replacement (Bridges); Replacement (Structures)

Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Policy; I24: Design of Bridges and Retaining Walls; I60: Maintenance

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2007 Paper #07-0324

TRIS, TRB

Feb 8 2007 4:53PM