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A railway route contains a number of bridge structures along its path. Consequently during operation, these bridges go through different type of load and stresses; as a result the bridges get damaged. The severity of the damage is mainly dependent on the volume of traffic, tonnage of the rolling stock, service year of the bridge, maneuver of users, etc. But in order to determine whether a bridge needs to be maintained or reconstructed, there must be an investigation, either thorough or timely scheduled investigation. Asset management is a strategic and systematic process through which an organization procures, operates, maintains, rehabilitates, and replaces assets to manage their performance, risks, and costs over their lifecycle to provide safe, cost-effective, and reliable service to current and future customers. For an organization to have a proficient bridge asset management, incorporating BMS in the system is very important. BMS is a formal procedure for collecting, processing, and updating data, predicting deterioration, identifying alternative actions and predicting their costs, and identifying optimal preservation policies. For an effective bridge management, computer aided management system is a very valuable choice that would serve the need of the authorized legal entity management personnel those responsible for monitoring of Railway Bridges, and managing bridge maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. This research study is focused to develop and introduce a computer program that could assist specially bridge asset management decision making. Transportation accesses are critical to the well being of the nation. And one of the biggest factors to influence transportation is railway transport service. It supports everyday social, political and economic activities by linking communities and connecting people with services. Hence, keeping the railway infrastructures in good condition is keeping the railway transport service efficiently. The computer program graphical interface is designed using Visual Basic Programming tool which is user friendly and easy to slot in all necessary information in to the computer. The data encoded in to the software are stored for fast and reliable accessibility using SQL (Server Query Language) Server, which allows all authorized computers on the network to access the information on their desk. The computer program does bridge registration and inventory, inspection data processing, priority ranking, maintenance cost estimation and maintenance plan generation.

A railway route contains a number of bridge structures along its path. Consequently during operation, these bridges go through different type of load and stresses; as a result the bridges get damaged. The severity of the damage is mainly dependent on the volume of traffic, tonnage of the rolling stock, service year of the bridge, maneuver of users, etc. But in order to determine whether a bridge needs to be maintained or reconstructed, there must be an investigation, either thorough or timely scheduled investigation. Asset management is a strategic and systematic process through which an organization procures, operates, maintains, rehabilitates, and replaces assets to manage their performance, risks, and costs over their lifecycle to provide safe, cost-effective, and reliable service to current and future customers. For an organization to have a proficient bridge asset management, incorporating BMS in the system is very important. BMS is a formal procedure for collecting, processing, and updating data, predicting deterioration, identifying alternative actions and predicting their costs, and identifying optimal preservation policies. For an effective bridge management, computer aided management system is a very valuable choice that would serve the need of the authorized legal entity management personnel those responsible for monitoring of Railway Bridges, and managing bridge maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. This research study is focused to develop and introduce a computer program that could assist specially bridge asset management decision making. Transportation accesses are critical to the well being of the nation. And one of the biggest factors to influence transportation is railway transport service. It supports everyday social, political and economic activities by linking communities and connecting people with services. Hence, keeping the railway infrastructures in good condition is keeping the railway transport service efficiently. The computer program graphical interface is designed using Visual Basic Programming tool which is user friendly and easy to slot in all necessary information in to the computer. The data encoded in to the software are stored for fast and reliable accessibility using SQL (Server Query Language) Server, which allows all authorized computers on the network to access the information on their desk. The computer program does bridge registration and inventory, inspection data processing, priority ranking, maintenance cost estimation and maintenance plan generation.

"September 1996." ; "This report was prepared under a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Western Illinois University and the University of Wisconsin." ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Mode of access: Internet.

Tolling is an age long revenue collection system institutionalised by public authorities for accumulating funds required for roads and bridges construction, maintenance and management. In spite of the merits of tolling as a major source of revenue in Nigeria, it was abruptly abrogated by the government few years ago because of reasons linked to ineffective governance, endemic corruption and lack of probity. The purpose of this paper is to make a case for responsible investment as an alternative funding mechanism for roads-bridges management (RBM) in Nigeria under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework. The paper adopts a discursive approach, relying on government policy documents, journal articles, online resources, working papers and reports on tolling best practices. The numerical and non-numerical data were critically analysed using content analysis enriched by tables and figures. The first finding indicates there are enormous potentials in tolls collection from privately funded roads and bridges for responsible investors in Nigeria under the PPP framework. The second finding identifies eight (8) PPP typologies that could be explored by investors under government's new tolling policy. The paper concludes that the success of any tolls collection systems depend largely on effectiveness of governance, probity and accountability, which are core elements of responsible investment in the contemporary times.Classification-JEL: G02, D01Keywords: Responsible Investment; Public-Private Partnership; Roads-Bridges Management; Nigeria.

Building Information Modelling applied to civil infrastructure has opened up interesting scenarios for integrated management of existing infrastructural works. In the last few years Bridge Management System (BMS) have been increasingly used by infrastructure owners, based on different control systems: from stochastic methods, which make it possible to define a condition ratio (CR) starting from periodic inspections of bridges, to sensors for structural monitoring, which can originate a flow of information exchange between real artifacts and the digital model capable of activating effective reactive or planned responses in the operation and maintenance phase of the asset. The paper intends to outline a BIM-oriented process workflow, which from the creation of parametric objects for infrastructural works using Scan-to-BIM acquisition techniques and procedures, arrives at the implementation of information bridge models to manage both static data from scheduled inspections of technicians of defects and their severity according to specific guidelines, and dynamic data from incoming and outgoing sensors placed in the physical asset for real time monitoring towards analysis, supervision and control systems of the facilities owner. The defined process workflow will be applied to some case studies, related to bridges of different characteristics, outlining some directions for future developments. In detail the research showcases the tasks undertaken and the outcomes achieved on four selected bridge case studies, which are real and situated within the geographical area of the Tuscany region, Italy. The studied bridges are all still in use and hold historical significance, as they were constructed between two hundred and one hundred years ago

Bridges are vital links in many transport networks and represent a big capital investment for both governments and taxpayers. They have to be managed in a way that ensures society's needs are optimally met. In many countries, bridges are mainly managed using bridge management systems (BMSs). Although many BMSs contain some forms of life-cycle costing (LCC), the use of LCC in bridge engineering is scarce. LCC in many BMSs has mainly been applied within the bridge operation phase, even though it has several useful applications within the bridge entire life, from cradle to grave. This licentiate thesis discusses the need of a BMS with integrated comprehensive LCC tools that can assist decision-makers at all levels and within all phases in selecting the most cost-effective alternative from an array of applicable alternatives. The thesis introduces the Swedish Bridge and Tunnel Management System (BaTMan). Acomprehensive integrated LCC implementation scheme is illustrated, taking into account the bridge investment and management process in Sweden. The basic LCC analytical tools as well as other helpful LCC techniques are addressed. Detailed case studies for real bridges at different investment phases are presented to demonstrate the recent improvement of BaTMan practically in the LCC integration. Cost records for 2,508 bridges extracted from BaTMan inventory data are used as input data in the presented case studies. Considering the same records, the average real and anticipated initial costs of different bridge types in Sweden will schematically be presented. The thesis introduces a bridge LCC program developed over this research named "BaTMan-LCC". The reason for which this program was developed is to combine all possible LCC applications for bridges in one tool and facilitate its implementation. The sensitivity analysis as well as the LCC saving potential highlighted in the presented case studies emphasizes the feasibility and the possibility of developing BaTMan to accommodate the applications of BaTMan-LCC. ; QC ...

Risk management plays a crucial role in the stakeholders' decision making because it is directly related to safety, serviceability and economy. There is now a growing concern about how to relocate known risks into an acceptance threshold: this implies the evaluation of several options obtained from hazard scenarios considering the related consequences. In parallel, practitioners usually rely on standard tools for risk assessment, and on structural codes to compute performances. Although this approach is currently widely implemented, this research shows that hazardous situations can arise in properly designed infrastructures, due to errors in management. This paper deals with such issue, also highlighting a gap in current codes that could contribute to losses caused by unforeseen failure modes. In this study, a preliminary FMEA assessment was performed to identify the failure modes that required a deeper quantitative analysis. In a second step, a quantitative analysis was implemented, using a modular methodology that combines reliability theory with a risk-based approach. The results evidenced that a wider analysis focused on the identification of vulnerable areas shall be considered in every stage of the asset management. Furthermore, the dynamic of this process is regulated by the established safety level concerning possible damages to people, production sites and commercial activities. ; This work was partly financed by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI01-0145-FEDER-007633. This work was supported by the FCT Foundation for Science and Technology under Grant SFRH/BD/145478/2019. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No ...

Natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, and especially floods, often cause severe damage in Taiwan. Although bridge engineering technology has matured, the lack of an integrated bridge management system under severe disasters remains a challenge for the government. This research aims to develop a web-based system that displays the real time bridge scour information through combining Global Positioning System and Wireless Sensor Networks technologies for bridges. The system also provides early warnings for bridge safety based on a developed genetic model for estimating scour depth around the bridge piers. The bridge safety monitoring agency utilizes the system as a decision support tool to make the maintenance plan for bridges and block the bridges under severe weather conditions to prevent the damages from bridge collapse.

Infrastructure maintenance management has become a challenge field for civil engineers and government managers because of the increasing number of deteriorated structures, their complicated spatial locations, the improved service requirements, the limited maintenance budgets and so on. Therefore, maintenance management approaches have been developed for civil infrastructures such as bridges and roads over the past several decades, but most of such approaches focused on one specific structure only – project‐level maintenance management. Now, there are increasing demands and appropriate conditions for network‐level maintenance management for civil infrastructure systems. Aims to explore such a maintenance management approach by integrating and applying the current information technologies, which include the database management system, geographic information system, genetic algorithm and the Internet. Several possible applications of each technology are discussed for solving real‐world problems.

Introductory management courses often are presented as knowledge-based studies. Although students may have limited work experience, they possess considerable life experiences and aptitude that can be used as a starting point for management knowledge. Prior to formal exposure to such issues as planning and leadership, the author asks students to complete self-assessment tests, allowing students to name and quantify their latent abilities and to use the classroom setting to build on this self-discovered knowledge. This article explores the use of this self-assessment technique in the classroom and its implications for learning.

This article reflects on the five articles that comprise the special segment on "Critical Thinking in Management Education" in this issue of Journal of Management Education. The article underscores both the challenges and benefits of integrating critical thinking into the management classroom and suggests ways of building better bridges between critical thinking scholarship and management pedagogy.