Decision Support System for Optimum Repair Technique of Concrete Bridges Girders in Egypt

Abstract

Nowadays, value engineering (VE) has become an essential application in many fields, especially structural engineering. Bridges normally experience local damages throughout their service life, whether due to natural hazards, accidents, or harsh environmental conditions. These damages can compromise the integrity of the structure based on their severity. This paper aims to develop a decision support system (DSS) that selects the most optimal repair technique for girders of concrete bridges, considering different factors such as financial, technical, and logistical factors. The proposed DSS is developed by integrating the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and VE to specify the optimum repair technique. Furthermore, the most common repair techniques are considered in this research, such as repairing using Steel plates, sheets of glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRPs), laminates of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs), external pre-stressing cables, and concrete jackets. The developed (DSS) was presented graphically as a map for the optimum repairing technique for certain (span, span/depth) combinations. Finally, the DSS was verified using collected case studies from the literature and showed good matching within the considered range of girder’s dimensions.

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“…The Delphi technique was used in conjunction with a face-to-face survey questionnaire to evaluate the developed framework. This feedback form utilized the Delphi technique, which has been shown to be a successful method for gathering information from experts in a particular field of knowledge 33,34 . Delphi technique is based on performing multiple iterations (rounds) to collect responses [35][36][37] .…”