ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems

METHODOLOGICAL FOCUS AREAS

The following definitions include excerpts from the report of the National Science Foundation's Civil Infrastructure Systems Task Group: "Civil Infrastructure Systems Research: Strategic Issues"

The ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems publishes cross-disciplinary papers in five methodological areas:

Deterioration Science

examines how materials and structures break down and wear out. Most construction materials are dynamic, with their properties evolving over time through changing conditions. Through research in materials science, chemistry, biology, geotechnical engineering, mechanics, failure processes, and risk/reliability, we can improve our understanding of the deterioration and design, build, and maintain structures that are more durable, safer, and more environmentally sound.

Assessment Technologies

determine how durable, safe, and environmentally benign our structures and facilities are. Current methods are relatively primitive and unreliable, prompting conservative, often costly decisions. Research in this area can lead to nondestructive evaluation techniques, improved sensor technologies, "smart" self-correcting materials, and enhanced geographical information systems.

Renewal Engineering

extends and enhances the life of civil infrastructure systems and components that would otherwise continue to deteriorate. Many facilities designed for transportation, energy production and distribution, waste management, water supply, work and recreation, and communication have aged by the elements or rendered obsolete by technological progress. It would be too costly and disruptive to simply replace these vast webs; rather, we must renew them.

However, we must focus research on other aspects of the process as well, such as new approaches in designing effective demolition, the compatibility of repair materials, recycling of appropriate resources, novel sensors that monitor wear, and so on. Due to the vastness of the challenge, the emphasis cannot be on the exotic, rather, it must fit the economics of real-world situations.

Institutional Effectiveness and Productivity

recognizes the importance of those factors affecting the decision processes underlying the provision and management of civil infrastructure on the economic and social productivity of society. We must seek to understand, for example, the management and pricing of public infrastructure, public participation in decisions, and variability in user needs and benefits, as well as the role of entrepreneurs in effecting urban change. Such research reveals the barriers to the most effective construction and replacement of civil infrastructure. This leads to better decisions that maximize the impact of civil infrastructure investments on the productivity of American business and on the economic and social well-being of the American public.

Planning, Management, and Sustainable Development

are areas in which the tools and techniques of operations research, management science, and computational methods are employed to design and implement strategies for systems management and operations, with an emphasis on the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of those strategies. Research that results in the development of computer-based decision support systems should thus include a formal evaluation component.


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