Providing Flexibility to Infrastructure Design to Improve Cost Efficiency
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 24, Issue 1
Abstract
In large infrastructure systems, the technical and operational requirements that are necessary to face future unexpected events cannot be defined up front; on the contrary, they evolve as a result of internal or external events (e.g., maintenance, failures, and updating) that occur through time. Thus, the success of any project depends on the combination of both technical and mechanical considerations and operational decisions. The objective of this paper is to present a model that approaches engineering design strategically by combining the need to manage a fix demand with the possibility of accommodating unexpected events. Because this approach is consistent with flexible and adaptable design, instead of designing and building a system capable of withstanding the demand to which it will be exposed during its time mission, the system is systematically redesigned at one or several points in time along its lifetime. This approach leads to more cost-efficient designs and equips the system with the flexibility necessary to handle uncertainty. The theoretical formulation evaluates the lifecycle cost and is illustrated with some examples.
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Acknowledgments
This paper was partially funded by the call for proposals by Research Program 2012 from the Office of the Vice President for Research at Universidad de Los Andes (Bogota, Colombia). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the University.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 24 • Issue 1 • March 2018
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 13, 2017
Accepted: Sep 11, 2017
Published online: Dec 29, 2017
Published in print: Mar 1, 2018
Discussion open until: May 29, 2018
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