Comparison of Practical Tools Developed for Bridge Life Cycle Optimisation

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Helsinki University of Technology | Diplomityö
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Date

2006

Department

Rakennus- ja ympäristötekniikan osasto

Major/Subject

Sillanrakennustekniikka

Mcode

Rak-11

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

106 s. + liitt. 19

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Abstract

This master thesis compares three current bridge life cycle cost (LCC) analysis programs - Finnish Bridgelife, Swedish WebLCC and American BridgeLCC. The basic principles of bridge LCC analysis are commonly known in the world, but the way to apply those varies from country to country, because each country has its own standards and customs. Additionally, the requirements of every program, which are specified before the implementation, are also different. These result in programs that are valid for all kinds of LCC analysis. The goal of this study is, by comparing the three programs mentioned above, to find a way to develop a unique program for the Nordic countries. Additionally, principles of bridge LCC analysis are studied in order to carry out the comparison. The following novel regards are summarised:. 1. Markov Chain based stochastic bridge LCC analysis. 2. Yield curve for the discount rate. 3. Optimum design with bridge LCC analysis. 4. The advantages of MATLAB (MATrix LABoratory) over Excel VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). 5. The power and expense of Citrix Presentation Server. Because of the different characteristics of the three programs and the different countries they are applied in, the functionality investigations are based only on local bridge examples. Although this study emphasises the comparison of the three programs, the exposition of the principles of bridge LCC analysis can also be used for a general browsing for up-to-date bridge LCC analysis. The main results of this study are the followings:. - Markov Chain based stochastic bridge LCC analysis in the Bridgelife program is original. - MATLAB should be adopted as the programming language in the further implementation of Markov Chain based stochastic bridge LCC analysis. - The three investigated programs mainly tackle the number of maintenance actions - the most difficult and uncertain factor in a LCC calculation. A LCC calculation tends to be perfect, when the other two factors, that is the cost of maintenance action and the interest rate, are taken into account as well. - The usefulness of LCC analysis is that it allows us to compare different alternatives in order to get an optimum LCC design result. - Fuzzy set theory and neural networks should be taken into account in a program to be developed in the future.

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Supervisor

Jutila, Aarne

Thesis advisor

Söderqvist, Marja-Kaarina

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Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-2020120553097

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[dipl] Teknillinen korkeakoulu / TKK