Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems 

About: Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Decision support system & Resilience (network). It has an ISSN identifier of 1028-6608. Over the lifetime, 469 publications have been published receiving 8223 citations.

An inexact two-stage stochastic programming model for water resources management under uncertainty

Abstract: An inexact two-stage stochastic programming (ITSP) model is proposed for water resources management under uncertainty. The model is a hybrid of inexact optimization and two-stage stochastic programming. It can reflect not only uncertainties expressed as probability distributions but also those being available as intervals. The solution meth od for ITSP is computationally effective, which makes it applicable to practical problems. The ITSP is applied to a hypothetical case study of water resources system operation. The results indicate that reasonable solutions have been obtained. They are further analyzed and interpreted for generating decision alternatives and identifying significant factors that affect the system's performance. The information obtained through these post-optimality analyses can provide useful decision support for water managers.

Constraint-handling using an evolutionary multiobjective optimization technique

Abstract: In this paper, we introduce the concept of non-dominance (commonly used in multi-objective optimization) as a way to incorporate constraints into the fitness function of a genetic algorithm Each individual is assigned a rank based on its degree of dominance over the rest of the population Feasible individuals are always ranked higher than infeasible ones, and the degree of constraint violation determines the rank among infeasible individuals The proposed technique does not require fine tuning of factors like the traditional penalty function and uses a self-adaptation mechanism that avoids the traditional empirical adjustment of the main genetic operators (ie, crossover and mutation)

Optimal strategy for inspection and repair of structural systems

Abstract: A new strategy for inspection and repair of structural elements and systems is presented. The total cost of inspection and repair is minimized with the constraints that the reliability of elements and/or of the structural system are acceptable. The design variables are the time intervals between inspections and the quality of the inspections. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the performance of the strategy. The strategy can be used for any engineering system where inspection and repair are required.

Comparison of different ANN techniques in river flow prediction

Abstract: Forecasts of future events are required in many of the activities associated with the planning and operation of the components of a water resource system. For the hydrologic component, there is a need for both short- and long-term forecasts of river flow events in order to optimize the system or to plan for future expansion or reduction. This paper presents the comparison of different artificial neural network (ANN) techniques in short- and long-term continuous and intermittent daily streamflow forecasting. The studies in modelling the intermittent series are quite limited because of the complexity of fitting models in to these series. The available conventional models necessitate the adjustment of numerous parameters for calibration. Three different ANN techniques, namely, feed-forward back propagation (FFBP), generalized regression neural networks, and radial basis function-based neural networks (RBF) are applied to continuous and intermittent river flow data of two Turkish rivers for short-range and lo...

Forensic project management: The underlying causes of rework in construction projects

Abstract: Construction professionals recognize that rework is a significant factor contributing to poor project performance, yet little is known about its antecedents and consequently it remains an innate problem. Because factors that contribute to its occurrence are not fully understood, the derivation of appropriate strategies for its reduction is problematic. Therefore, a comprehensive appreciation of the mechanisms that cause rework will enable project performance improvements to be made. Two longitudinal case studies were undertaken to determine the antecedents of rework. Based on the findings presented, strategies for reducing the incidence of rework are identified and discussed. This paper contributes to study of quality in construction by identifying the underlying factors that influence rework in projects.