Jeljeli, M N (1994) A risk-based methodology for estimating contractors' liability in superfund cleanup construction. PhD thesis, University of Wisconsin - Madison, USA.
Abstract
The environmental cleanup market offers new and emerging business opportunities for the construction industry. However, these opportunities present substantial risks to contractors who decided to engage in cleaning up hazardous and toxic waste (HTW) sites. These risks can be attributed to the uncertainties of the technological and the legal environment. Of all the risks present in this type of work, legal liability may be the most daunting. The intent of this dissertation is to provide a structured methodology to estimate various risks associated with Superfund cleanup during construction and to quantitatively relate them to potential contractor liability. The research approach adopted to this dissertation draws on two fields of study: (1) decision theory and (2) knowledge acquisition processes. A decision analysis technique that incorporates features from decision trees and influence diagrams is used to develop a model that allows the desired target values to be determined. The knowledge acquisition processes, on the other hand, provide the input data through the interaction with experts. These experts are knowledgeable regarding the factors influencing the events whose values or probabilities of occurrence are being assessed. The developed model is implemented in DPL$\sp{\rm TM}$, a decision software package, and applied to a Superfund project. The selected Superfund project is Onalaska Municipal Landfill located at La Crosse, Wisconsin. The research is significant in that it is one of the first attempts to provide a systematic procedure for acquiring HTW construction expertise from various experts and organizing it into a formal structure, in a way useful for assessing the risks and the liability exposure of Response Action Contractors (RAC's).
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Russell, J S |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cleaning; decision analysis; decision theory; estimating; landfill; liability; market |
| Index terms: | methodology, estimating, landfill, exposure, decision theory, liability, software package, knowledge acquisition, decision tree, cleaning, dissertation, estimate, interaction, construction industry, decision analysis |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, student development, decision analysis, public and environmental health, software systems, financial and cost management, behavioral psychology, liability law, research methods, maintenance engineering, waste management, research dissemination and communication |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Health and Safety, Sustainability, Risk Management, Legal Issues, Education, Research Practice, Cost Management, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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