• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2007.03a
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• pp.563-572
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• 2007

Transportation infrastructure is critical to economic growth of a country such as China. Careful evaluation of investments in traffic infrastructure projects is therefore pertinent. As traditional evaluation methods do not consider the uncertainty of future cash flows and mobility during project execution, the real option approach is gradually gaining recognition in the context of valuing construction and infrastructure projects. However, many of the cases only evaluate individual options separately although multiple options often exist in a typical large infrastructure project. Using a highway project in China as a case study, this paper first evaluates a deferment option and a growth option embedded in the project. Subsequently, the values are combined using the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. It is found that the combined value is less than the sum of the two option values. This finding is consistent with the theoretical observations given in past real option literature despite the use of a different approach.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.469-482
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• 2009

The emerging sensor-based structural health monitoring (SHM) technology has a potential for cost-effective maintenance of aging civil infrastructure systems. The author proposes to integrate continuous and global monitoring using on-structure sensors with targeted local non-destructive evaluation (NDE). Significant technical challenges arise, however, from the lack of cost-effective sensors for monitoring spatially large structures, as well as reliable methods for interpreting sensor data into structural health conditions. This paper reviews recent efforts and advances made in addressing these challenges, with example sensor hardware and health monitoring software developed in the author's research center. The hardware includes a novel fiber optic accelerometer, a vision-based displacement sensor, a distributed strain sensor, and a microwave imaging NDE device. The health monitoring software includes a number of system identification methods such as the neural networks, extended Kalman filter, and nonlinear damping identificaiton based on structural dynamic response measurement. These methods have been experimentally validated through seismic shaking table tests of a realistic bridge model and tested in a number of instrumented bridges and buildings.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.3-10
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• 2022

An estimated investment gap of $176 billion needs to be filled over the next ten years to improve America's inland waterway transportation systems. Many of these infrastructure systems are now beyond their original 50-year design life and are often behind in maintenance due to funding constraints. Therefore, long-term maintenance strategies (i.e., asset management (AM) strategies) are needed to optimize investments across these waterway systems to improve their condition. Two common AM strategies include policy-driven maintenance and performance-driven maintenance. Currently, limited research exists on selecting the optimal AM approach for managing inland waterway transportation assets. Therefore, the goal of this study is to provide a decision model that can be used to select the optimal alternative between the two AM approaches by considering key uncertainties such as asset condition, asset test results, and asset failure. We achieve this goal by addressing the decision problem as a single-criterion problem, which calculates each alternative's expected value and certain equivalence using allocated monetary values to determine the recommended alternative for optimally maintaining navigable waterways. The decision model considers estimated and predicted values based on the current state of the infrastructure. This research concludes that the performance-based approach is the optimal alternative based on the expected value obtained from the analysis. This research sets the stage for further studies on fiscal constraints that will effectively optimize these assets condition.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.579-587
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• 2019

In this paper, pounding tuned mass dampers (PTMDs) were designed to mitigate the multi-mode vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of stay cable utilizing the viscous-elastic material's energy-dissipated ability. The PTMD device consists of a cantilever metal rod beam, a metal mass block and a specially designed damping element covered with viscous-elastic material layer. Wind-tunnel experiment on VIV of stay cable model was set up to validate the effectiveness of the PTMD on multi-mode VIV mitigation of stay cable. By analyzing and comparing testing results of all testing cases, it could be verified that the PTMD with viscous-elastic pounding boundary can obviously mitigate the VIV amplitude of the stay cable. Moreover, the installed location and the design parameters of the PTMD device based on the controlled modes of the primary stay cable, would have a certain extent suppression on the other modal vibration of the stay cable, which means that the designed PTMDs are effective among a large band of frequency for the multi-mode VIV control of the stay cable.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.501-511
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• 2022

Three-dimensional (3D) models have become crucial for improving civil infrastructure analysis, and they can be used for various purposes such as damage detection, risk estimation, resolving potential safety issues, alarm detection, and structural health monitoring. 3D point cloud data is used not only to make visual models but also to analyze the states of structures and to monitor them using semantic data. This study proposes automating the generation of high-quality 3D point cloud data and removing noise using deep learning algorithms. In this study, large-format aerial images of civilian infrastructure, such as cut slopes and dams, which were captured by drones, were used to develop a workflow for automatically generating a 3D point cloud model. Through image cropping, downscaling/upscaling, semantic segmentation, generation of segmentation masks, and implementation of region extraction algorithms, the generation of the point cloud was automated. Compared with the method wherein the point cloud model is generated from raw images, our method could effectively improve the quality of the model, remove noise, and reduce the processing time. The results showed that the size of the 3D point cloud model created using the proposed method was significantly reduced; the number of points was reduced by 20-50%, and distant points were recognized as noise. This method can be applied to the automatic generation of high-quality 3D point cloud models of civil infrastructures using aerial imagery.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.327-334
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• 2016

This study proposed a framework for an infrastructure asset management manual which can be adjusted by different ordering authorities to develop their own manuals. For this, The necessity of asset management manual was examined through analysis of the current status and insufficiencies and limitations in the asset management manuals of the domestic government and ordering authorities. Second, the systems and characteristics of infrastructure asset management manuals in developed countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States were examined and compared. Finally, based on the domestic infrastructure asset management characteristics and foreign infrastructure asset management manuals, a framework for an infrastructure asset management manual that can be utilized by the ordering authorities was proposed considering generality of asset management manual, asset management maturity of ordering authorities, serviceability of manual, and cyclic processes of asset management.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.415-426
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• 2009

This study focuses on the concept of multi-scale wireless sensor networks for damage detection in civil infrastructure systems by first over viewing the general network philosophy and attributes in the areas of data acquisition, data reduction, assessment and decision making. The data acquisition aspect includes a scalable wireless sensor network acquiring acceleration and strain data, triggered using a Restricted Input Network Activation scheme (RINAS) that extends network lifetime and reduces the size of the requisite undamaged reference pool. Major emphasis is given in this study to data reduction and assessment aspects that enable a decentralized approach operating within the hardware and power constraints of wireless sensor networks to avoid issues associated with packet loss, synchronization and latency. After over viewing various models for data reduction, the concept of a data-driven Bivariate Regressive Adaptive INdex (BRAIN) for damage detection is presented. Subsequent examples using experimental and simulated data verify two major hypotheses related to the BRAIN concept: (i) data-driven damage metrics are more robust and reliable than their counterparts and (ii) the use of heterogeneous sensing enhances overall detection capability of such data-driven damage metrics.

• International Journal of Railway
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.64-68
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• 2013

In recent years, the speed of a train has been recognized as one of the important factors to determine the competitiveness as a mean of transportation. In line with this, infrastructure improvements and enhancements are being made with increases in the speed of train. Accordingly, there is a need to establish plans for infrastructure improvements through a comprehensive analysis of signals, track/civil engineering, catenary and environment, etc. to improve the speed of a train of high-speed train service sections in Korea. This study proposes improvement plans for catenary systems by investigating the possibility of improvements through performance analysis of catenary equipment by speed increase based on the analysis on catenary systems in Gyeongbu high-speed line, and analysis the applicability of catenary improvements and economic feasibility.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.377-389
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• 2023

In this study, an improved modular arch system with the lower arch space composed of a precast arch block and an outrigger was proposed as an underground culvert, and its applicability and structural behaviors were confirmed. This modular arch culvert structure with vertical walls was designed using precast blocks and by adjusting the placement spacing of concrete blocks to the upper part form an arch shape and the lower part form a vertical wall shape, based on previously researched modular arch systems. Owing to the vertical wall of the proposed modular arch system, it is possible to secure a load-carrying capacity and an arch space that can sufficiently resist the earth pressure generated from the backfill soil and loading on the arch system. To verify the structural characteristics, and applicability of the proposed modular precast arch culvert structure, a full-scale modular culvert specimen was fabricated, and a loading test was conducted. By examining its construction process and loading test results, the applicability and constructability of the proposed structure were analyzed along with its structural characteristics. In addition, its the structural predictability and safety for the applicability were evaluated by comparing the construction process and loading test results with the FE analysis results.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.5_6
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• pp.439-459
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• 2010

Structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil infrastructure using wireless smart sensor networks (WSSNs) has received significant public attention in recent years. The benefits of WSSNs are that they are low-cost, easy to install, and provide effective data management via on-board computation. This paper reports on the deployment and evaluation of a state-of-the-art WSSN on the new Jindo Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge in South Korea with a 344-m main span and two 70-m side spans. The central components of the WSSN deployment are the Imote2 smart sensor platforms, a custom-designed multimetric sensor boards, base stations, and software provided by the Illinois Structural Health Monitoring Project (ISHMP) Services Toolsuite. In total, 70 sensor nodes and two base stations have been deployed to monitor the bridge using an autonomous SHM application with excessive wind and vibration triggering the system to initiate monitoring. Additionally, the performance of the system is evaluated in terms of hardware durability, software stability, power consumption and energy harvesting capabilities. The Jindo Bridge SHM system constitutes the largest deployment of wireless smart sensors for civil infrastructure monitoring to date. This deployment demonstrates the strong potential of WSSNs for monitoring of large scale civil infrastructure.