Multi-criteria decision-making system for selecting an effective plan for bridge rehabilitation

The managers of the US transportation infrastructure face the challenge of restoring the aging highway infrastructure system and making it perform more reliably, safely and efficiently at minimum cost and with minimum disruption. The process selection of an appropriate construction plan for rehabilitation/reconstruction of a bridge requires its evaluation on the basis of qualitative and quantitative metrics such as construction cost, effect on surrounding businesses and communities and the flow of traffic, etc. Traditional decision-making methods that are focused on costs alone are not equipped to address the multi-objective nature of the decision-making process. This article presents an example demonstrating a decision-making system based on the analytical hierarchy process that can be utilised to transparently extract quantitative weights which reflect the relative importance of both qualitative and quantitative objectives of a project and select a bridge construction plan that best meets the objectives.