Why fix a road
today if it's slated to be ripped up for new sewers next summer?
This kind of
question is at the heart of research from Tarek Zayed, and Amin Hammad,
professors in Concordia's Department of Building, Civil and Environmental
Engineering (BCEE), and PhD candidates Soliman A. Abu-Samra and Mahmoud Ahmed.
"Better
coordination at city hall is the key to less costly repairs," says
Abu-Samra. "We've shown that streamlining maintenance results in huge
financial and time savings."
Their findings
were recently published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and
Management.
"Canada is
experiencing an enormous infrastructure deficit that was estimated at $123
billion in 2007 and is increasing by about $2 billion annually," says
Abu-Samra. "Thus, there is a need for more efficient use of
municipalities' budgets to enhance the level of service delivered to
taxpayers."
The math behind
better fixes
To prove to city
departments that it's worth it for them to coordinate their efforts, the study
created an original asset management framework with multiple objectives.
It considers the
physical state of infrastructures, lifecycle costs, user expenses, and
replacement value.
The framework
uses three core models: a database model containing detailed asset inventory
for road and water networks; key performance indicator (KPI) computational models
for measuring the impact of intervention plans; and an optimization algorithm
to schedule activities.
"The
algorithm simulates thousands of scenarios to reach an optimal one," says
Abu-Samra.
Consider Kelowna
The Concordia
researchers applied their system to road and water networks in Kelowna, B.C.,
where the results showed lifecycle costs could be cut by 33 per cent and user
costs halved.
Their test also
showed the potential to include sewer, electricity, gas and telecom networks,
provided information can be shared.
"It may
sound like common sense, but proactive coordination between different city
departments can be difficult. They tend to work in silos, with plans and annual
reports created independently," says Abu-Samra.
Next stop,
Montreal?
Zayed and
Abu-Samra are currently in discussions with the City of Montreal to implement
the framework, although there is no formal arrangement to work together at this
stage.
"Better
coordination would cause less disruption, which has been increasingly obvious
this year, especially in the roads sector, where 2,000 potholes are repaired
every day," Abu-Samra notes.
"A more
integrated approach would result in an optimized expenditure of our annual
budget along with an enhanced level of service, which is urgently needed given
the deteriorating condition of our infrastructures."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180220143107.htm
