System-level optimization of maintenance and replacement decisions for road networks

The objective of infrastructure management is to determine optimal Maintenance, Rehabilitation and Replacement (MR&R) decisions for a system of facilities over a planning horizon. While most approaches in the literature have studied it as a problem of optimal allocation of limited financial resources, the network configuration of the system has usually not been explicitly accounted for. In fact, MR&R activities on road networks can cause significant delays for users, due to congestion, detours, etc. The proposed bottom-up methodology investigates the significance of the network configuration within a multi-objective decision-making framework, wherein capacity losses due to construction activities are subjected to an agency-defined network capacity threshold. A parametric study is conducted on a stylized network configuration to infer the impact of network-based constraints on the decision-making process. Finally, the effect of different capacity thresholds and budget levels on the system performance is evaluated using a Pareto optimal frontier.