HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT AND PRESERVATION UNDER LIMITED FINANCIAL RESOURCES - AN APPLICATION OF MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION
Abstract
Inflationary pressures, stablizing user tax revenues, energy constraints and aging highway facilities have necessitated the shifting of emphasis onto highway system preservation and improvement. The problem is one of fulfilling several objectives with limited resources. A study of relevant literature reveals that while traditional highway programming practices are inadequate, an appropriate tool utilizing the latest developments in optimization techniques is yet to be developed. Such a tool in the form of a computer package combining probabilistic sampling and goal programming techniques is presented in this thesis. The applications of the model to analyze the impact of highway funding and improvement policies as well as major macro-economic variables on highway maintenance strategies and performance are shown for the state of Indiana and the Region V of the Federal Highway Administration. Seven activities are considered, six to represent periodic improvements and one for routine maintenance. Four system objectives are considered for simultaneous optimization. The policies of categorical funding against non-categorical funding, changing relative importance of system objectives and changing minimum tolerable conditions are studied to understand the trade-offs involved as well as to test the working of the model. Also, different levels of funding are examined. Impacts of alternative macro-economic scenarios on future strategy and performance are studied by applying the model to the period 1982 to 1989 in cycles of 2 years. This is done for the State of Indiana under three macro-economic futures. The regional system is studied for the period 1976-1981 to understand fund allocation strategies. Based on the experience of this research, some directions for future work in this area are identified. The program listing with brief supporting documentation is given as an Appendix.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Civil engineering
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