Date of Award
January 2015
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Civil Engineering
First Advisor
Samuel Labi
Committee Member 1
Kumares C Sinha
Committee Member 2
Thomas L Morin
Committee Member 3
Amr A Kandil
Abstract
Highway agencies have a fiduciary responsibility for cost-effective upkeep of highway assets worth trillions of dollars. A critical aspect of this stewardship is the ability to make informed decisions regarding the scheduling of interventions geared to enhance infrastructure capacity and structural integrity or to maintain a state of good repair. Development of such schedules which are time-based or condition-based, often proceeds with the implicit assumption that a certain asset-related parameter of volatility will continue to follow a certain pattern on the basis of observed past trends. However, given the uncertain nature of the asset environment, it is often the case that the economic attractiveness of an investment determined at the analysis year may not be the same over time. In some cases, it is possible to scale back, defer, or expand the investment at a future time in order to avoid excessive losses or to capture additional rewards; in other cases, it is not easy to scale back, defer, or expand. As stewards of taxpayer money, highway agencies place great value on any flexibility they may be granted to exercise these options.
Recommended Citation
Athigakunagorn, Nathee, "USING REAL OPTIONS THEORY TO ENHANCE HIGHWAY ASSET INTERVENTION SCHEDULING" (2015). Open Access Dissertations. 1163.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1163