Combining a Multiattribute Value Function with an Optimization Model: An Application to Dynamic Resource Allocation for Infrastructure Maintenance

Abstract

A key decision in infrastructure management is the allocation of resources to maintenance activities that consist of periodic rehabilitation actions and routine day-to-day operations. These activities improve the quality of different assets and operations. They also differ in terms of their objectives, costs, and life-cycle characteristics; yet they all impact the same infrastructure system and compete for resources from the same budget. To support the allocation of resources to these activities, we present a generic resource allocation model that we developed for the Finnish Road Administration (Finnra) by building and interlinking (i) a preference model, which yields the aggregate value of maintenance activities by applying multiattribute value functions to the quality distributions of assets; (ii) a life-cycle model, which captures the deterioration-improvement dynamics associated with the maintenance activities; and (iii) an optimization model, which generates funding recommendations for maximizing the aggregate long-term value of maintenance investments. The optimization results were explored in facilitated workshops where "on-the-fly" computations gave senior managers insights into how the recommendations depended on preferences and budget levels. The case study was awarded for an outstanding achievement in Finnra's research program, and it was also recognized as a Finalist for the Decision Analysis Society Practice Award in 2007.

Improving the Generation of Decision Objectives

“…From this set, 19 objectives might be useful in creating alternatives, 12 might be particularly relevant for including various stakeholders' concerns, 8 might be considered to screen out obviously inferior alternatives, and 5 may be used in a formal analysis of subsequent contending alternatives. Recent applications including Mild and Salo (2009) and Brothers et al (2009) have discussed the process of selecting objectives for a formal analysis.…”

Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis

“…[33][34]. In some cases there may be some underlying model which can be used to de…ne interactions automatically -for example [35] provide a model of road prioritisation in which the road degradation process is explicitly modelled through a Markov chain. In this case a di¢culty is that the underlying model has to be incorporated into the PDA model, which may give rise to a problem which is computationally di¢cult to solve.…”

Measurement issues in the evaluation of projects in a project portfolio

“…An interesting instance of this sort of model is described in Mild and Salo (2009). These authors describe an application undertaken for the Finnish Road Administration where particular profiles of maintenance decisions are mapped into a descriptive system which captures the distribution of the various elements of the road infrastructure across a number of quality classes.…”