Economics of geotechnical asset deterioration, maintenance and renewal

Abstract

Transport and other infrastructure systems are supported by, adjacent to and retained by extensive systems of earthworks of varying (and increasing) age, and of variable quality of original construction. These earthworks are subject to natural deterioration, which can be accelerated and complicated by the effects of climate change. The ACHILLES research program is providing improved understanding of earthworks behavior, performance and deterioration, and is developing methods and tools to provide decision support for the construction, maintenance and renewal of earthworks, with particular emphasis on the management of existing, deteriorating assets. Conventional cost-benefit analysis methods, of the type used for new infrastructure projects, do not directly provide the decision support needed for the maintenance and renewal of existing earthworks assets, and an alternative approach is proposed and demonstrated. The handling of the uncertainty associated with earthworks behavior, deterioration rates and times to failure is also considered, as is the extension of the single-asset approach to the management of multiple earthworks assets.

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Identifiers

ORCID for John Armstrong: orcid.org/0000-0002-2648-6307

ORCID for John Preston: orcid.org/0000-0002-6866-049X

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