Supply and Demand System Approach to Developing Bridge Management Strategies (Comparison with Two Existing Approaches)

Optimal management strategies for a group of bridges that may incur damage from flooding during a 15-year period were determined using three approaches, and then the strategies were compared. The three approaches are the supply and demand system approach and two approaches used in existing bridge management systems: the supply bridge approach and the supply and demand bridge approach. The comparison investigates the approaches’ abilities to determine optimal management strategies when multiple bridges are likely to be affected simultaneously. With probabilistic concepts, the likelihood of inadequate service resulting from the damage was determined. The comparison shows that when bridges may be adversely affected simultaneously, the use of the supply and demand system approach can result in increased savings as compared with both the supply bridge approach and the supply and demand bridge approach.