An ontological knowledge-driven smart contract framework for implicit bridge preservation decision making

The decision-making for bridge preservation constitutes two types of rules: explicit rules, which are based on clear specifications to establish an overall baseline preservation plan, and implicit rules, which are rooted in extensive experience and professional judgments to adjust the baseline plan and adapt to the local context. A research gap exists in establishing standards for implicit rules and ensuring efficiency, credibility, and transparency when applying them. Therefore, the research objectives of this study are to (1) develop an information container to structure, store, and describe bridge inspection data leveraging domain knowledge; (2) enhance querying tools for organizing complex reasoning of implicit rules; and (3) establish a decentralized system for data sharing and knowledge communication in implicit decision-making. This research proposes a framework that integrates domain ontology and smart contracts to enable transparent and standardized knowledge streaming. By following a bridge preservation ontology, this research develops a mapping tool that converts element inspection data into a graph data set. Subsequently, implicit decision rules are structured via the SPARQL protocol and applied to the graph data set. A decentralized rule management platform utilizing smart contract and distributed file storage is developed to establish a standard decision-making protocol. Finally, the framework was evaluated based on 13,994 real-world bridge inspection records collected from North Carolina, United States. Results demonstrate that the proposed framework efficiently deploys implicit rules to the target data set with a 94% reduction in execution time without a loss in accuracy. The decentralized platform enforces a new rule evaluation and approval norm. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by developing an ontological framework that organizes complex reasoning of implicit preservation rules and establishing a decentralized system to enhance efficient collaboration for bridge preservation decision-making.