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Abbas, N M A (2007) Construction claims in Saudi Arabia: a study of sources and associations of claims, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Strathclyde.
Abdalall, S (2017) Concurrent delay analysis in public works construction disputes: a cross-jurisdictional study of Egypt, Scotland and England, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Law School, University of Strathclyde.
Adjei-Kumi, T (1997) The development of an intelligent system for visual simulation of construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Al-Meshekeh, H S S (1991) The relationship between conflict management style and construction project effectiveness, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Alahmadi, N H (2018) Nudging contracting firms rivals within municipal road projects in Saudi Arabia to bid competitively, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture , University of Strathclyde.
Bell, T (2018) A detailed investigation into the engineering properties and challenges affecting the potential introduction of a UK grown dowel-laminated timber floor panel into the domestic construction market, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde.
Branki, C N E (1995) Agents, applications, and interactions in collaborative building design, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Campos, C R (2023) Simplified Matlab calculation tool for LCA optimization of domestic buildings, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Charley, J (1995) The dialectic of the built environment: A study in the historical transformation of labour and space, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Coffey, M (1995) The propensity for participation in mechanical and electrical sub-contractors in the British construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Collins, H J (2007) Identity and interpretation of the built environment: a case study of interpretation of symbolic artefacts in the organisational built environment and it's effect on the identity forming process, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Craigen, A (1990) Britain's school building estate: evaluation by life cycle for effective maintenance, with an illustrated study on Glasgow schools, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Cummings, A J G (1980) The York Buildings Company: A case study in eighteenth century corporation mismanagement, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Duncheva, T A (2019) Offsite timber systems multi-factor productivity index, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture , University of Strathclyde.
Hajjah Dayang Suzana, B H A A (2006) An exploration of the business environment of the construction industry of Negara Brunei Darussalam: in the context of public-private partnerships, privatisation and private finance initiatives, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture and Building Science , University of Strathclyde.
Hand, J W (1998) Removing barriers to the use of simulation in the building design professions, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Hassanien, A (2003) Analysing hotel repositioning through property renovation in the hospitality industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, The Scottish Hotel School , University of Strathclyde.
Hughes, J (2020) Global claims in engineering and construction contracts, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Law School , University of Strathclyde.
Ibrahim, W A B (2016) Regulatory framework for adjudicators in the Malaysian construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Law School , University of Strathclyde.
Makulsawatudom, A (2003) Construction productivity measurement and improvement in Thailand by improved work-sampling, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture and Building Science, University of Strathclyde.
Mansfield, N R (1990) The internationalisation of the British construction consulting sector and technology transfer in developing countries, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Marketing , University of Strathclyde.
McElroy, L B (2009) Embedding integrated building performance assessment in design practice, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture and Building Science , University of Strathclyde.
McLellan, R (1994) The use of project management procedures by construction contractors, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering , University of Strathclyde.
Mohd Nor, M F I (2019) The development of a pedagogical framework for the integration of building information modelling in the architecture degree programme in Malaysia, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture , University of Strathclyde.
Morbitzer, C A (2003) Towards the integration of simulation into the building design process, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Nakhi, A E (1995) Adaptive construction modelling within whole building dynamic simulation, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Newton, S (1983) Analysis of construction economics: a cost simulation model, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture and Building Science , University of Strathclyde.
Orsaah, S (1984) Perception and management of risk in the construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Marketing , University of Strathclyde.
Salamati, A A (2001) Urban housing design in Iran in response to socio-cultural and environmental conditions, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture and Building Science, University of Strathclyde.
Sinha, S (2006) Skill based framework for measuring complexity of construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Tennant, S (2007) Site management teams and project performance in the UK construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture , University of Strathclyde.
Verzobio, A (2020) Supporting rational decision-making in civil engineering, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: utility theory; monitoring; civil engineering; civil engineer; decision support
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: https://doi.org/10.48730/hz8q-7j84
- Abstract:
The management of civil engineering structures, such as bridges and dams, is fundamental for ensuring their continued safe and economical operation, where decisions such as whether or not to suspend operations are based on uncertain knowledge concerning the state of the structure. Modern development in technology has made available several accurate monitoring devices providing Structural Health Information, that can be used to support such decision-making through more informed assessment of the structural state. The wide-spread adoption of these devices has led to the development of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) decision support system, to identify appropriate courses of action based on observed data from the monitoring system. Essentially, it is a two-step process, which includes the judgment of the structural state based on the SHM information, and the decision about the optimal action based on the knowledge of the structural state. When engineering knowledge concerning the state of the system is uncertain, as the monitoring system does not directly observe the state of the structure, Bayesian inference and Expected Utility Theory provide the only consistent way to judge and to make decisions, respectively, as all alternative inferential methods for decision support are susceptible to logical inconsistency.;However, we must recognize that in the real world the process followed by decision makers may be distorted. The goal of the research proposed in this contribution is twofold: we investigate how heuristic behaviours may affect human judgment and decision-making in civil engineering, and also how decision-making can be distorted when multiple agents, even rational but with different appetites for risk, are involved in the decision chain. Firstly, most agents in everyday life apply heuristic approaches rather than a formal Bayesian procedure in order to make inference to support decisions. In particular, without the use of formal algorithms to support rational interpretation of data, humans apply simple strategies or mental processes to interpret data, which are prone to systemic errors. This may happen with data that come from various data sources, such as SHM but also engineering expert knowledge. Innovative frameworks to support rational decision-making are then required, in order to minimize the risk of biased judgments or decisions. For instance, being able to predict the behavior of an irrational manager is necessary when we set a general policy for bridge management, and we know that someone else who is going to enact the policy may behave irrationally.;In this doctoral thesis, we start reviewing the literature of heuristics and cognitive biases in order to identify the most relevant as regards human judgment and decision-making for civil engineering structures. We identify Kahneman and Tversky's representativeness as a heuristic for which SHM-based decision-making is particularly susceptible, where simplified rules for updating probabilities can distort the decision maker's perception of risk. Therefore, we reproduce mathematically this observed irrational behavior to investigate how it distorts human judgment. In addition, it is recognized that heuristic behaviors may affect expert knowledge. Consequently, we propose a method for eliciting engineering expert knowledge in order to assess civilengineering structures: the process is required in order to support the collection of valid and reliable data, by minimizing the adverse impact of cognitive biases. Secondly, the decision process can be distorted when multiple agents are involved, not only in the case of irrational behaviors, where the distortion is expected, but even in the case of rational behaviors. Indeed, decision makers may differ in their decisions under uncertainty according to their different appetites for risk. Again, predicting the behavior of managers is required for instance when there is a management policy for which the final decision of an agent has to consider the opinion of other decision makers, who may behave differently.;In this thesis, we formalize an innovative rational method for quantifying the value of information (VoI) of SHM when two different agents are involved in the decision chain: this framework allows one to investigate how decisions may be distorted due to the different appetites for risk of decision makers. In addition, we understand that the interaction between rational agents with different appetites for risk may lead to a negative VoI, which is unexpected since it means that the monitoring information may be perceived as damaging. Therefore, we develop a mathematical formulation to investigate under which specific circumstances it is possible to achieve this unexpected outcome. Finally, all the studied theories and proposed frameworks are applied respectively to various civil engineering case studies. In summary: we evaluate the structural safety of a common type of bridge of the Autonomous Province of Trento stock, in Italy; we investigate the system reliability of the Mountain Chute dam and generating station in Ontario, Canada; we analyse the management of a pedestrian bridge in Princeton University campus equipped with a monitoring system, in USA. These applicationsallow us to demonstrate the operationalizability of the methods developed in this thesis, and to prove their relevance in various civil engineering case studies.
Walters, R J (1983) An evaluation of user experience of CAAD: With particular reference to health buildings, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Wools, R M (1971) The subjective appraisal of buildings, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Yakubu, S U-N (2017) The barriers to the implementation and enforcement of the Building Code Standards Structural Provisions for mid-rise residential buildings: the case of Nigeria, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Zhang, L (2022) Risk management framework to guide off-site manufacturing process: a Chinese perspective, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.
Zubairu, M (1990) Sites and services housing development: Strategies for improving the effective demand for projects by low-income families in the urban areas of Nigeria, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Strathclyde.