Multitiered Prioritizing Method Using Urgency Scale for Bridge Deck Rehabilitation: Fid-Bau Portal

Multitiered Prioritizing Method Using Urgency Scale for Bridge Deck Rehabilitation

Yoon, Yoojung / Hastak, Makarand

Timely implementation of bridge deck rehabilitation is important for sustaining the serviceability of bridges. With the chronic underfunding of infrastructure rehabilitation, the application of an accurate prioritization method is needed in order to maximize the investment effects of the limited budgets allocated for bridge deck rehabilitation. The prioritization methods currently used to plan bridge deck rehabilitation projects have evolved to the point where multiple attributes such as functional, economic, social, political, and environmental impact are integrated to determine the relative importance of rehabilitation needs at a network level. However, integrated scale-based prioritization methods measure the physical condition of an individual bridge deck as a part of these multiple attributes so it is possible for an individual bridge deck in physically urgent condition to be delayed to later fiscal years, at which time its further deteriorated condition may exceed the minimum condition limit. Therefore, a method is needed whereby this undesirable outcome is handled during the decision-making process. The objective of this paper is to propose a multitiered prioritization method that takes two hierarchical selection steps based on the urgency scale and total prioritization scale to prioritize rehabilitation projects in order to minimize the potential problems in the existing prioritization methods while maintaining the strengths of existing integrated prioritization methods. The urgency scale is defined as the severity level of the physical condition of an individual bridge deck for rehabilitation. It is calculated by estimating the acceptable time frame within which a rehabilitation project can be delayed until the physical condition of the bridge deck goes beyond the minimum threshold for rehabilitation. The proposed multitiered prioritization method is applied to a concrete bridge deck network as a case study. The results of the proposed method are compared to the results of other commonly used prioritization methods to demonstrate its effectiveness.