Optimizing the Bridge Maintenance Schedule of Transportation Networks under Uncertainty: A Simheuristic Approach Considering Reliability

Abstract

In this work, we consider optimal maintenance scheduling policies of bridges in transportation networks. The network is composed of a set of urban centers, connecting roads, and corresponding bridges. Bridges, as one of the most critical infrastructure elements of transportation networks, might suffer from stochastic degradation due to excessive use and a wide variety of other hazardous events, such as floods, and other climate change-related conditions. When maintenance or shut-down is being applied for a specific bridge, the total travel time in the overall network decrease. On the other hand, the maintenance intervention increases the structural reliability of the bridges. Therefore, there is a tradeoff between structural reliability at an asset level and travel time at a system level. This paper presents a simheuristic approach to identifying the most efficient maintenance scheduling policy that allows minimizing the maintenance cost and the total travel time in the network without exceeding a manager-defined budget.