Risk based life-cycle planning for flood-resilient critical infrastructure

The paper presents a risk assessment model, developed in the project oVERFLOw and further implemented in the project CROSScade, for determining the direct and indirect impacts of flooding hazards. As a consequence of flooding, transport infrastructure and flood protection systems can be significantly damaged and cause cascading effects on other...

Foundation for risk-based asset management for storm surge barriers

Due to climate change, the risk of flooding is increasing with potentially severe consequences on highly populated and economically developed coastal zones. Storm surge barriers protect against such events with the critical task of closing during extreme weather conditions to prohibit the propagation of water. This highlights the importance of...

Multi-stakeholder service life design for rail level crossings

Improvement in rail asset safety, comfortability and serviceability is gaining importance. This requires effective service life management by incorporating multi-stakeholder desires in the early design stage. Typical stakeholders are asset owners, train users and maintenance service providers. To allow for this change, the traditional single...

Assessing the functional end of life of critical hydraulic structures in The Netherlands

Next decades, many hydraulic structures in the Netherlands will reach their end of life. Timely mitigation requires accurate estimates of the end of life. This appears however hard since many external drivers and multiple functions may lead in many plausible combinations to insufficient technical or functional performance. As a consequence, a...

Embedding functional performance in asset management of hydraulic structures

In the coming decades, the storm surge barriers in the Netherlands will reach their end of the designed life time of 100 years. Therefore, the Dutch storm surge barriers are preparing for major renovations. Next to this, as a result of the expected sea level rise, the hydraulic loads and the number of necessary closures will exceed the original...

Preference-based service life design of floating wind structures

Floating wind farms are a promising solution for offshore wind energy production in deep waters. However, the design optimisation process of these farms is difficult due to their complex and multidisciplinary nature. Furthermore, current optimisation methods: 1) ignore and/or provide no insight into the dynamic interplay between the preference...

Design strategies for reusable structural components in the built environment

The technical solutions for deconstruction are reviewed and investigated in the building sector as this is an expected trend under the sustainability requirements set in the EU Commission´s “Green Deal” towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Two of the main research areas for efficient deconstruction strategies are; i) the behavior...

Assessing life-cycle seismic fragility of corroding reinforced concrete bridges through dynamic Bayesian networks

Bridge structures are exposed to several chronic and abrupt stressors, among which the combined effects of corrosion and earthquakes pose a major threat to their long-term safety. Probabilistic risk assessment frameworks that quantify and propagate uncertainties inherent to these phenomena are necessary to mitigate this threat. This paper...

Determining the future functional requirements of a pumping-weir station with the help of data-analysis

The pumping-weir complex at IJmuiden plays an important role in the drainage of excess water in the Western Netherlands. Multiple pumps need replacing as 4 out of 6 pumps near their end-of-life term. The optimal replacement strategy critically hinges on the future required pumping capacity. Yet, currently available models are not suited to...