Investment priorities for the management of hydraulic structures

Abstract

Maintenance management of the hydraulic structures requires the selection of the most necessary maintenance intervention to ensure their proper operation and structural safety. Given the characteristics of these structures, many types of damage may appear, so it is not easy to take a decision. The purpose of this paper is to present the Prioritisation Index for the Management of Hydraulic Structures (PIMHS), a multi-criteria decision-making system based on the three axioms of sustainability (social, environmental and economic), which orders and prioritises non-similar maintenance investments in hydraulic structures. The results obtained show that PIMHS can be used by decision-makers to prioritise, in hydraulic structures, all kinds of maintenance interventions where the damages cannot lead to dam break.

Keywords::

• decision-making
• sustainability
• hydraulic structures
• dams
• infrastructure management

Acknowledgements

This work has been developed within the framework of the UPC and Endesa Generación SA agreements, represented by Fco. José Conesa, and the Project BIA2010-20913-C02-02 of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, to whom the authors thank for their support over the years. The first author is grateful for the scholarship FI (AGAUR) of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the support received from the Col·legid'Engiyers de Camins, Canals i Ports de Catalunya.

Notes

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