An Optimal Sustainment Measures Programme for Urban Infrastructure Networks

Urban infrastructure networks are the lifelines of modern urban society. They provide water, electricity, gas, telecommunications and mobility. In order to continue to provide these services, the networks must be maintained, repaired, renewed and adjusted at certain intervals. Nevertheless, in spite of careful maintenance, failures and breakdowns can occur and these can have a serious effect, not only on the affected network, but also on neighbouring networks.

In the Infrastructure Management Group, Clemens Kielhauser is investigating the development of a methodology for establishing an optimal sustainment measures programme for urban infrastructure networks as part of his doctoral research. The programme will apply a joint implementation of sustainment measures, paying special attention to the interaction between the networks and the targeted synergies, as well as the possible risks arising from allowing networks to become too dense. Another challenge is keeping control of computer time, which is increasing exponentially along with the increasing number of infrastructures and time periods. The methodological approach will attempt to keep these increases within an appropriate range through the skilful selection of heuristic methods, such as genetic algorithms, and the use of analogy models.

The application of this methodology to develop a planning programme for sustainment measures in urban areas will enable infrastructure operators to provide an optimal sustainment measures programme as well as to make substantiated statements about its functioning. In addition, this can lead to the realisation that a sustainment measures programme that is ideal for a single network, can also, in an overall context of all infrastructure networks, serve as the foundation of other sustainment measures programmes.

Contact

Clemens Kielhauser / Prof. Dr. Bryan T. Adey