Providing Flexibility to Infrastructure Design to Improve Cost Efficiency

Abstract

In large infrastructure systems, the technical and operational requirements that are necessary to face future unexpected events cannot be defined up front; on the contrary, they evolve as a result of internal or external events (e.g., maintenance, failures, and updating) that occur through time. Thus, the success of any project depends on the combination of both technical and mechanical considerations and operational decisions. The objective of this paper is to present a model that approaches engineering design strategically by combining the need to manage a fix demand with the possibility of accommodating unexpected events. Because this approach is consistent with flexible and adaptable design, instead of designing and building a system capable of withstanding the demand to which it will be exposed during its time mission, the system is systematically redesigned at one or several points in time along its lifetime. This approach leads to more cost-efficient designs and equips the system with the flexibility necessary to handle uncertainty. The theoretical formulation evaluates the lifecycle cost and is illustrated with some examples.