Decentralized Approach Considering Spatial Attributes for Equipment Utilization in Civil Engineering Disaster Response

Abstract

After a disaster hits an urban area, well-organized response operations are required to efficiently mitigate the chaotic situation. Efficient distribution of resources, such as heavy construction equipment, is critical to urban search and rescue operations. The efficiency of these lifesaving operations depends on the delivery of required resources. Challenges within resource allocation operations for disaster response have been identified, which include the convergence of resources to the disaster-affected areas, lack of detailed information of available resources, and inefficient decision making for resource deployment. These challenges are obstacles to efficient search-and-rescue operations. This paper presents an innovative approach that facilitates immediate equipment distribution in response to disasters. The equipment control structure, inspired by the behavior control structure of honeybees’ foraging, enables decentralized and collective decision-making for equipment prioritization and distribution. With the equipment control structure applied to facilities management such as construction equipment distribution, disaster-response operations have the potential to become more efficient. With the preliminary findings from computer simulation runs of the equipment control structure in a controlled environment, decision makers could evaluate policies for equipment distribution in a decentralized disaster response. Future research will be directed toward evaluation of policies for the equipment control structure and validation of the model through interaction with emergency-response officials from the local, state, and federal emergency management agencies and deployment of the model to emergency drills.