Risk-Based Spatial Decision Support System for Maintenance Dredging of Navigation Channels

Abstract

Planning for the maintenance and improvement of water navigation infrastructure in the United States is a difficult task exacerbated by the uncertainties and variability in natural, engineering, and economic conditions. The Risk Analysis for Water Resources Investments Research Program in the Institute for Water Resources of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been developing methods and tools to address this issue by incorporating risk analysis and management directly into the Corp's planning and decision making processes. In this paper we present the development of a risk-based spatial decision support system intended to assist in the planning of maintenance dredging activities for navigation channels. The spatial decision support system is based upon a mixed-integer mathematical programming model, the Reliability Based Dynamic Dredging Decision (RBD