Agent-based modeling of abc methods for decisionmaking in highway bridge projects including uncertainty and several stakeholders

Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) methods that were recently introduced in the U.S. to reduce the on-site construction duration furnish several benefits to the public and highway agencies. Further, the traffic growth in addition to increasing number of functionally obsolete and structurally deficient bridges necessitates the increased implementation of ABC methods. In recent years, several Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in the U.S. have developed decision-making models to compare broadly ABC to conventional bridge construction for a particular site. However, with increased implementation and advancements in ABC methods, there is a need for specifying a particular ABC method and a superstructure system for a site by means of evaluating the associated uncertainty. The uncertainty arises because of the activities associated with ABC methods, and constructability and durability of superstructure systems with respect to site-specific conditions. Moreover, the interactions among the internal stakeholders such as the DOT, Designer, Contractors, Consultants, etc. , while delivering a project using an ABC method contribute to the uncertainty. Understanding the need, a decisionmaking model is required that enables the evaluation of ABC methods and the associated superstructure systems in order to achieve optimal constructability and durability of a bridge. The agent-based complex systems approach enables modeling and simulating the activities and stakeholder interactions in order to evaluate the impact of the uncertainty on the ABC project performance. The uncertainty can be quantified by identifying the parameters that contribute to uncertainty, and establishing parameter correlations with the site-specific data. The following outline the specific tasks performed during the research: (1) Documenting potential superstructure systems that can be used with the ABC methods for a particular region, (2) Documenting major activities and internal stakeholders of ABC methods, (3) Documenting parameters that contribute to uncertainty of the activities, (4) Developing the parameter correlations with site-specific data for a particular region, (5) Formulating the decision-making framework and demonstrating the framework using an example, and (6) Developing recommendations for future research to extend the framework to an automated decision-making model/tool.