Analysis and Evaluation of Alternative Technologies

Abstract

It is common in civil engineering and construction for new technologies to replace old ones. In most cases, only a qualitative analysis is used to compare the various alternatives regarding the technology to be used. The present paper describes a quantitative approach to the comparison of alternative technologies based on the preset objectives of the decision maker and the merits of each technology under question. The approach involves identification of the basic risk factors associated with each technology, setting the criteria to be used in the analysis, quantification of the used factors with respect to criteria, and aggregating all factors and criteria for each alternative to produce a final score for the alternative. The last part is intended as a tool to support decision making on the selection of the most feasible technology. A sensitivity‐analysis study is included to demonstrate the use of the approach in studying the impact of changes in the preferences on the final decision.