Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153 – 164

www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon

GA-based algorithm for selecting optimal repair and rehabilitation methods

for reinforced concrete (RC) bridge decks
Cheol-Kyu Lee a , Sung-Keun Kim b,⁎
a
Ministry of Planning and Budget, Seoul, South Korea
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Seoul National University of Technology, Seoul, South Korea
Accepted 10 March 2006

Abstract

Korean government agencies manage bridge structures at the network level using a Bridge Management System (BMS). One of the most
important functions of the BMS is to provide the agencies with an effective decision making tool for managing bridges. Especially, it is very
important for the BMS to assist in prioritizing routine maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and replacement activities to optimize the given
constrained budgets. This paper suggests an algorithm for the BMS to prioritize bridge maintenance activities at the network level and to show its
implementation. The selection of maintenance activities can be modeled as a multi-objective combinatorial optimization problem. A genetic
algorithm is used to solve it. Using bridge decks as an example, the application of genetic algorithms is demonstrated and the feasibility of the
suggested methodology is examined through some numerical case studies.
© 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Bridge maintenance; Repair and rehabilitation method; Genetic algorithm; Optimization; Bridge management

1. Introduction
Appropriate bridge maintenance activities should be carried
out to maintain a required level of performance throughout the
whole life cycle. Recently, there has been a considerable increase
in repair and rehabilitation projects to restore or enhance deteri-
orated bridges. However, there has not been enough budget to
cover it. Thus, it is very important to select proper bridge main-
tenance activities subject to constrained budgets. It is a highly
complex problem to decide which bridges need maintenance and
what kinds of maintenance activities are used for the bridge to
maximize total benefit in terms of the constrained budget. In
other words, the bridge maintenance strategy at a network level
is an optimization problem to combine the selection of bridges
that need repair or rehabilitation with maintenance activities
whose total cost should not exceed the given budget. It should
maximize the total benefit of bridge maintenance activities.
Genetic algorithms (GA) that are well suited to combinatorial
optimization are now expanding their domain as a global search
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 970 6503; fax: +82 2 948 0043.
E-mail addresses: cklee05@mpb.go.kr (C.-K. Lee), cem@snut.ac.kr
(S.-K. Kim).
0926-5805/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.autcon.2006.03.001
technique. With the significant research [1,4,3] carried out for
road pavement maintenance in the middle of 1990s, it is now
being used as a dominant method to develop maintenance plans.
Haidar et al. [6] applied GA to the selection and the combination
of equipment, and Kamada et al. [9] showed that it is applicable to
the development of optimal construction planning in repetitive
architectural work. There have only been a few research efforts
that applied GA to bridge maintenance. Miyamoto et al. [11], who
brought GA into use for long-term maintenance strategies,
concentrated on yearly maintenance of bridges at the project level.
There were network level approaches for the maintenance of
bridge decks [10,2]. Although the former focused on yearly
maintenance strategies that aimed at minimizing the cost, the
latter showed how to select the method of maintenance using
fuzzy theory that considered the field conditions and the road
network, but disregarded a number of coincidental damages to
each bridge by only maximizing the effect of maintenance projects.
Korean government agencies manage bridge structures at the
network level using a Bridge Management System (BMS). The
BMS provides the agencies with an effective decision making
tool for managing bridges. Still, it does not have a decision-
making module for the optimization of the selection of projects
and the inclusion of alternatives based on routine maintenance,
154 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164

Start

Generate population with random string

Fitness Evaluation

Yes
Convergence? Stop

No

Apply reproduction proportional to fitness

Mutation
Genetic
Crossover
operation

Selection

Fig. 1. Simple genetic algorithm [12].

repair, rehabilitation, and replacement. In this paper, a GA-based
algorithm for the BMS to prioritize bridge maintenance activities
at the network level is suggested. The selection of proper main-
tenance activities and target bridges is modeled into a multi-
objective combinatorial optimization problem that considers
both maximizing the total recovering effect and applicability of
maintenance methods and minimizing the maintenance cost at a
network level. The optimal solution to this problem is acquired
by a GA and its methodology is demonstrated. The criteria for
the selection of maintenance alternatives are as follows:
(1) The total of benefits (i.e. recovering effect, applicability)
of the maintenance activities should be maximized;
(2) The maintenance activities should be chosen to give the
best match possible to the types of damage and the degree
of deterioration of each bridge; and,

Table 1
Damage types and maintenance methods (1 USD = 980 Won, Jan. 2006)
Methods (ki) Damage types ( ji)
Micro- Moderate Macro- Rebar Punching/ Exfoliation/ Leakage/ Standard Unit cost
crack ( j1) crack ( j2) crack ( j3) corrosion ( j4) cavitation ( j5) pot-hole ( j6) efflorescence ( j7) material (Won/m2)
Surface repair (k1) ○ ○ × × × ○ ○ Polymer 100,000
cement
Mortar filling (k2) × ○ △ △ △ △ △ Polymer 140,000
cement
Epoxy injection (k3) × ○ × × △ × × Epoxy resin 240,000
Corrosion × × △ ○ × △ × Polymer 360,000
inhibiting (k4) cement
Slab thickness × × ○ ○ ○ × × Reinforced 540,000
increasing (k5) concrete
Steel plate × × ○ ○ ○ × × Steel plate 490,000
attaching (k6) (t = 4.5 mm)
Carbon fiber sheets × ○ ○ × × × × Carbon fiber 450,000
attaching (k7) sheets
Replacement (k8) × × ○ ○ ○ × × Reinforced 1,230,000
concrete
○: good, △: fair, ×: not applicable.
 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164 155

Table 2 spring, by means of genetic operations like crossover

Recovering effect of maintenance activity (modified from [10]) and mutation;
Maintenance activity Deterioration degree Impact Step 5. Increase the number of generations from the new
Routine maintenance 0.0–0.8 0.01 population, P(g + 1), g = g + 1; go to Step 2.
Repair 0.2–0.8 0.05
Rehabilitation 0.4–1.0 0.40 3. Maintenance activities for bridge decks
Replacement 0.6–1.0 0.90

3.1. Damage types and maintenance activities

(3) The total cost of the maintenance activities should not
exceed the budget limitations.
Using the above criteria, an objective function of the GA-
based algorithm is formulated and the interrelation among the
recovering effect, the applicability of the method, and the cost
of a project are evaluated using some numerical cases. The
proposed algorithm is implemented for the BMS.
2. Genetic algorithm
Genetic algorithms developed by Holland [8] that combine
problem solving algorithms with the principles of evolution de-
monstrate excellent operations in combinatorial optimization
that have a finite solution. Potential solutions are represented as
‘individuals’, combinations as chromosomes, and then they are
evolved gradually through the genetic operations such as selec-
tion, crossover, and mutation to find optimal solutions. Also, a
fitness function, which originates from an objective function of
the problem, evaluates each individual. The searching schema-
tics of a simple genetic algorithm (Fig. 1) can be generalized to
the following steps:
Step 1. Organize initial population P(0) of solutions, which
includes M number individuals as the initial generation,
g = 0;
Step 2. Evaluate fitness of all individuals in P(0);
Step 3. Finish operations when the solution has been found or the
designated number of generation exchanges is reached,
otherwise proceed to Step 4;
Step 4. Select the more fit individuals based on fitness from P(g)
and transform them to new individuals, called off-
There are numerous causes and many types of damage for
bridges depending on bridge types and their elements, because
they comprise a large number of components. Typical types of
damage for bridge decks are cracks, scaling, pot holes, rebar
exposure and corrosion, punching, spalling, leakage, efflores-
cence, and so on. It is important to select a proper repair cor-
responding to the types of damage. Currently, many different
repairs are used to maintain bridges based on materials, con-
struction techniques, and types of damage. In this paper, eight
kinds of repairs are selected as alternative methods for rein-
forced concrete (RC) bridge decks. They are represented in
Table 1.
3.2. Recovering effect
Different researchers suggest different classifications and
definitions of maintenance activities. In this paper, four levels of
maintenance activities that are defined by Harper [7] and Liu
et al. [10] are used.
(1) Routine maintenance—activities that do not affect bridge
structure and its function (e.g., timely cleaning and re-
moving snow and ice).
(2) Repair—activities that restore a good surface condition of
bridge decks and prolong the life of them (e.g., patching
and sealing).
(3) Rehabilitation—activities that restore damaged structures
and rehabilitate them to as-new condition (e.g., attaching
additional girder or plates).
(4) Replacement—activities that completely replace compo-
nents of the bridge decks with new ones when it is

Table 3
Recovering effect value of maintenance methods
Methods (ki) Damage types ( ji)
Micro- Moderate Macro- Rebar Punching/ Exfoliation/pot- Leakage/ Maximum recovering
crack ( j1) crack ( j2) crack ( j3) corrosion ( j4) cavitation ( j5) hole ( j6) efflorescence ( j7) effect value (REVmax)
Surface repair (k1) 5 3 0 1 0 1 3 13
Mortar filling (k2) 3 4 5 2 1 2 4 21
Epoxy injection (k3) 3 5 3 1 2 2 0 16
Corrosion 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 31
inhibiting (k4)
Slab thickness 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40
increasing (k5)
Steel plate 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40
attaching (k6)
Carbon fiber sheets 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 40
attaching (k7)
Replacement (k8) 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90
156 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164

The following assumptions are used for determining rating

Maximum recovering values for each cell in Table 3:
effect value
(1) The value of the expected recovering effect for a main-
Recovering & Deterioration Value

90 tenance method may range from 1 to 90;

(2) It is assumed that repairs are of good quality for general
RV ERV=
field conditions;
(3) 90, the maximum value in column 9, means that the
RV ERV 90-DV
condition of a bridge can be restored to 90% of the initial
=RV construction condition ultimately even though the com-
DV
plete replacement method is used;
(4) Effective restoration value (ERV) must be applied to valid
recovering effect and it can be calculated as follows;

0 If DV þ RV V 90; ERV ¼ RV
ð1Þ
Case 1 Case 2 Case Otherwise; ERV ¼ 90  DV

Case 1: DV + RV ≤ 90
where DV = deterioration value from the bridge condition
Case 2: DV + RV > 90 assessment, and RV = recovering effect value expected by
Fig. 2. Effective restoration value (ERV).
a maintenance activity (Fig. 2).

impossible to restore the function of the structure using
repair and rehabilitation methods.
Table 2 shows the deterioration degree level required for each
maintenance activity such as routine maintenance, repair, reha-
bilitation, and replacement and the effect following those activi-
ties. The value of deterioration degree of a bridge ranging from 0.1
to 1.0 as shown in column 2 correlates to the applicability of each
maintenance activity and each degree requires a different level of
activity. The impact value in column 3 represents the restoration
degree of the bridge. If the activities do not reduce the deterioration
degree, the impact value is 0.01. If they can restore the bridge
condition to the initial construction condition, it is 0.90 [10].
The recovering effect of specific maintenance activities is
shown in Table 3. The rating values on recovering effect are
determined by both the general values in Table 2 and the
opinion of experts in the field of bridge maintenance.
3.3. Applicability of maintenance activities
When a replacement method that needs enormous effort and
cost is used for slight damage like micro-cracking, it is not a
reasonable selection even though the recovering effect is
enough to restore the deck to as-new condition.
Applicability indexes are introduced for considering the kind
of absurdity as mentioned above. In Table 4, the applicability
indexes are rational numbers between 0 and 1 that represent the
fitness of maintenance methods for each damage type. It is a
very complex problem to determine proper applicability index-
es, because various factors are involved. In this paper, for
simplicity, indexes based on the opinion of experts are used. For
a specific type of damage, the most applicable maintenance
activity is assigned an index value of 1.0; the maximum value in
Table 4. On the other hand, if the activity is the least suitable, it
is 0.

Table 4
Applicability index of maintenance methods
Methods (ki) Damage types ( ji)
Micro- Moderate Macro- Rebar Punching/ Exfoliation/ Leakage/ Maximum recovering
crack ( j1) crack ( j2) crack ( j3) corrosion ( j4) cavitation ( j5) pot-hole ( j6) Efflorescence ( j7) effect index
Surface repair (k1) 1.0 0.9 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.7 0.8 1.0
Mortar filling (k2) 0.5 0.7 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.0
Epoxy injection (k3) 0.7 1.0 0.6 0.2 0.7 0.5 0.5 1.0
Corrosion 0.4 0.5 0.7 1.0 0.5 0.6 0.5 1.0
inhibiting (k4)
Slab thickness 0.3 0.4 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.4 1.0
increasing (k5)
Steel plate 0.5 0.5 1.0 0.7 0.8 0.5 0.2 1.0
attaching (k6)
Carbon fiber sheets 0.6 0.6 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.0
attaching (k7)
Replacement (k8) 0.2 0.4 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.5 0.5 1.0
 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164 157

4. GA model formulation
4.1. Problem description
The GA model formulation resembles a knapsack problem,
which is typical of combinatorial optimization to select a repair
and rehabilitation method at a network level. The knapsack
problem is how to maximize the value of the items that fill a
knapsack of fixed volume and have been proven NP-hard [5].
Like the knapsack, the selection of repair and rehabilitation
methods must maximize the recovering effect of the bridge
network for a limited budget.
The multi-objective function, which is formulated with
recovering effect, applicability and maintenance cost, is struc-
tured to select more practical maintenance methods. Fig. 3 is the
flow chart which shows the selection procedure of repair and
rehabilitation methods.
For Sections 4.2 and 4.3, the following variables as shown in
Table 5 are used.
4.2. Objective function
The objective function for choosing optimal repair and
rehabilitation methods could be different depending on the
selection criteria, which consists of numerous constituents
such as constructability, cost-effectiveness, applicability, re-
covering effect of methods and so forth. Three constituents
of criteria, the recovering effect, the applicability, and the
cost of the methods, comprise the objective functions as
follows.

Problem Description

Bridge Data Optimization Factor Objective Function

° Deterioration Value ° Recovering Effect ° F1=F(Effect) Max.

° Damage Types ° Applicability Index ° F2=F(Applicability) Max.

° Damage Size ° Standard Unit Cost ° F3=F(Cost) Min.

Constraint :Total cost <=Budget

GA-Based Optimization

Fitness Function Next Generation

Genetic Parameter

° Mutation (Pm)
Reproduction
° Crossover(Pc) Constraint:Total cost<= Budget
° Population Size ° Selection
° Number of Generation No ° Crossover
° Convergence Condition Convergence?
° Mutation
Yes
Weight Factor End

Optimal Solution

° Optimal maintenance methods of each bridge ° Maintenance cost of each bridge

° Total recovering effect ° Total maintenance cost

Fig. 3. Selection procedure for selecting repair and rehabilitation methods using genetic algorithm.
158 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164

Table 5 bridge and these damages can be made good by only one kind of
Definitions of the variables in Eqs. (2)–(6) maintenance method, this is an optimization problem to
Variable Definition maximize the applicability function of the bridge maintenance
i Bridge deck index methods. Among available maintenance methods, the most
j Damage type index applicable method for all types of damages should be selected.
k Maintenance method index This can be modeled as Eq. (3).
Rijk Recovering effect of the maintenance method k performed on the
damage type j for the bridge deck i X
n X
m X
p
Rjk Recovering effect of the maintenance method k performed on the Max: F2 ¼ FðApplicabilityÞ ¼ Aijk dWij dXk
damage type j i¼1 j¼1 k¼1
REVmax Maximum recovering effect value
Xk Binaryvariables refer to maintenance method k; Subject to 0V Ajk V1
1; if maintenance method k is selected
Xk ¼
0; otherwise
n Total number of bridge decks considered X
m ð3Þ
m Total number of damage types considered Wij z0 ði ¼ 1; 2; :::; nÞ
p Total number of maintenance methods considered j¼1
Aijk Applicability index of the maintenance method k performed on the
damage type j for the bridge deck i Xk ¼ 0 or 1 ðk ¼ 1; 2; :::; pÞ
Ajk Applicability index of the maintenance method k performed on the
damage type j 4.2.3. Cost
Wij Investigated size of the damage type j on the bridge deck i
The cost of selected alternatives should not exceed the given
Cik Standard unit cost of the maintenance method k performed on the
bridge deck i budget constraint. If there are several alternatives that have
Cimax Maximum standard unit cost for the bridge deck i equivalent recovering effect and applicability, the most
α Weighting factor for recovering effect inexpensive one should be selected. The cost function can be
β Weighting factor for applicability formulated as shown in Eq. (4).
γ Weighting factor for maintenance cost
a, b, c Normalizing factors for each term of the objective function
X
n X
m X
p
Min: F3 ¼ FðCostÞ ¼ Wij d Cik d Xk
4.2.1. Recovering effect i¼1 j¼1 k¼1
The optimal selection of bridge maintenance methods at a
n X
X m X
p
Subject to Wij d Cik d Xk V Total budget
network level is the problem of maximizing the recovering effect
i¼1 j¼1 k¼1
by the selection of maintenance activities as described in Eq. (2). X
n ð4Þ
Xn X m X p Wij z 0 ði ¼ 1; 2; :::; nÞ
Max: F1 ¼ FðEffectÞ ¼ Rijk dXk j¼1
i¼1 j¼1 k¼1
Xk ¼ 0 or 1 ðk ¼ 1; 2; :::; pÞ
Subject to 0 V Rjk V90
m X
X p ð2Þ 4.2.4. Multi-objective function
Rjk dXk VREVmax Though one of three objective functions could be used in-
j¼1 k¼1 dividually, it is appropriate to consider all of them simulta-
Xk ¼ 0 or 1 ðk ¼ 1; 2; :::; pÞ neously when it is the problem of selecting maintenance
alternatives. There are various realistic factors that can be
4.2.2. Applicability considered to construct objective functions, such as the types of
Applicability is the degree of compatibility of the selected damage, the constructability of the maintenance methods, the
maintenance method. If there are many kinds of damage in a social cost of traffic congestion, the cost of traffic accidents and
the opportunity cost that can be induced from the maintenance
works. In this paper, only three objective functions, the
Table 6
Encoding of maintenance methods recovering effect, the applicability and the cost, are considered
Methods Encoding
Integer encoding (a) Binary encoding (b)
Table 7
No action (k0) 0 0000 Parameters of genetic algorithm
Surface repair (k1) 1 0001
Parameter Notation Setting value
Mortar filling (k2) 2 0010
Epoxy injection (k3) 3 0011 Population size Pop 100
Corrosion inhibiting (k4) 4 0100 Crossover Pc 0.8
Slab thickness increasing (k5) 5 0101 probability
Steel plate attaching (k6) 6 0110 Mutation Pm 0.2
Carbon fiber sheets attaching (k7) 7 0111 probability
Replacement (k8) 8 1000 Stopping criterion Gmax 200
 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164 159

Elite Selection
3 3 4 2 5 0 4 6 1 8 1 1 2 7 7 3 5 3 3 7

1 1 2 7 7 3 5 3 3 7 0 5 0 4 6 4 6 7 1 8

3 4 3 2 1 5 1 0 0 7 3 3 4 2 5 3 4 3 2 1

0 4 6 1 8 5 1 0 0 7

Genetic 2 2 2 1 2 2 4 0 5 0
0 5 0 4 6 4 6 7 1 8 Operator
0 8 6 1 1 3 7 2 8 7 crossover
selection
0 6 5 2 2 2 1 3 0 6 mutation 3 0 3 3 2 1 1 2 2 1

Fig. 4. Concept of evolutionary strategies.

to formulate a multi-objective optimization problem. This can be 4.3.2. Fitness function

presented as follows. There is little possibility of solution in case the given budget
is extremely small. If the objective function above is used for
Max: F ¼ adadF1 þ bdbdF2  gdcdF3
the case without proper modification, the initial population does
n X
X m X
p not evolve effectively. Thus, the following fitness function is
¼ ðadadRijk þ bdbdAijk d Wij suggested to induce proper evolutions.
i¼1 j¼1 k¼1
X
n X
m X
p
gd cd Wij d Cik ÞXk If Wij d Cik dXk V Total budget
i¼1 j¼1 k¼1
Subject to 0 V Rjk V 90; 0 V Aij V1;
Fitness function ¼ 0:5 þ ad ad F1 þ bd bd F2  gd cd F3
X
m X
p
Rjk dXk V REVmax ð5Þ
j¼1 k¼1 Otherwise; 0 1
Xm
B C
Wij z 0 ði ¼ 1; 2; :::; nÞ BF3 Total budget C
Fitness function ¼ 0:5 B
B n X
C
C
j¼1
@ X m
X
n X
m X
p Cimax dWij dTotal budgetA
Wij d Cik d Xk V Total budget i¼1 j¼1
i¼1 j¼1 k¼1 ð6Þ
Xk ¼ 0 or 1 ðk ¼ 1; 2; :::; pÞ
4.3.3. Genetic operators
aþbþg¼1 The selection of individuals in genetic algorithms is based on
the principle of survival of the fittest. Crossover and mutation
4.3. GA parameters operators are controlled by providing each chromosome with
random probabilities for crossover and mutation. Two of the
In order to solve the optimization problem using genetic best individuals are selected by elitism1 and then others are
algorithms, not only the three basic genetic operators, (1) se- composed using selection proportional to the fitness, and using
lection, (2) crossover, and (3) mutation, but also a code design roulette wheel selection2. Single point crossover3 is used for
method and a fitness function should be predefined. every individual. Parameters of the genetic algorithm are pre-
sented in Table 7. Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram to explain
4.3.1. Encoding the general concept of evolutionary strategies. Two best indi-
Encoding, which describes variables in the problem as chro- viduals in an old generation are copied to the new generation by
mosomes, uses binary or integer string codes according to the
type of problem. 1
It is one of selection methods which guarantees the survival of the best
Each bridge can be characterized as a chromosome that individual in the new population. It can prevent a loss of the best found
represents the selected maintenance methods for the bridge. As solution.
2
mentioned earlier, since the eight types of maintenance methods Chromosomes are selected from the population to be parents for crossover.
are defined, nine types of chromosomes, including “No action”, The size of the section in the roulette wheel is proportional to the value of the
are needed. Columns (a) and (b) in Table 6 represent the integer fitness function of every chromosome. The larger the section is, the more
chances to be selected.
encoding considered for the eight types of maintenance methods 3
One crossover point of variables of an individual is selected at random and
and the most generally applicable binary encoding method, the variables exchanged between the individuals at the crossover point, then
respectively. two new offspring are generated.
160 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164

Table 8
Example data and results of Case 1 and Case 2 (cost in ten thousands of won)
Bridge Damage types ( j) P7
W i Pi Optimal solution
deck j¼1
Micro- Moderate Macro- Rebar Punching/ Exfoliation/ Leakage/ Case 1 Case 2
number (m2)
crack crack crack corrosion cavitation pot-hole efflorescence
(i) Selected Vi Ui Ci Selected Vi Ui Ci
( j1) ( j2 ) ( j3 ) ( j4 ) ( j5) ( j6 ) ( j7 )
method method
1 10 10 10 30 44 A 0 44 0 A 0 44 0
2 10 20 30 62 A 0 62 0 A 0 62 0
3 30 30 73 A 0 73 0 A 0 73 0
4 10 10 10 10 10 50 10 A 0 10 0 A 0 10 0
5 10 10 10 10 40 56 A 0 56 0 A 0 56 0
6 30 10 40 65 A 0 65 0 A 0 65 0
7 4 3 7 85 A 0 85 0 C 5 90 98
8 20 50 20 5 5 100 22 A 0 22 0 A 0 22 0
9 20 10 10 10 50 38 A 0 38 0 A 0 38 0
10 1 1 88 B 2 90 10 B 2 90 10
Sum 378 543 – 2 545 10 – 7 550 108
Budget 100 thousand won 3 million won
Fitness 0.802778 0.8049
Converged generation 60 51
Weighting factor for each terms of α = 0.5, β = 0.0, γ = 0.0 α = 0.499, β = 0.0, γ = 0.001
a multi-objective function
A = no action, B = surface repair, C = mortar filling, D = epoxy injection, E = corrosion inhibiting, F = slab thickness increasing, G = steel plate attaching, H = carbon fiber
sheets attaching, I = replacement.

the elitism. For those remaining in the old generation, the 5. Case study
roulette wheel selection is used to choose parents in a way that is
proportional to their fitness and then the single point crossover Table 8 shows example data including 10 bridge cases to
is performed at a crossover point for the chosen parents to verify the applicability of the presented genetic algorithm by
generate new individuals in the next generation. applying it to some numerical cases. As mentioned earlier, if an
individual (possible solution) that is in excess of total budget
(a) is selected (fitness value = 0), the initial population does not
Fitness evolve. So, for the case studies, 1/2 is used instead of 1 to
0.9 effectively evolve the individual within the given budget through
0.8
crossing and mutation.
0.7
0.6 The definitions of the symbols used in this section are as
0.5 follows:
0.4
0.3 i Bridge decks index
0.2 j Damage type index
0.1
Wi Total size of damaged area on the bridge deck i
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 Pi Deterioration values from the assessment of the bridge
Generation deck i
Average Fitness Best Fitness
Vi Total restoration value of the bridge deck i
(b)
Ui Expected deterioration value of the bridge deck i after
Fitness
0.9 performing the selected maintenance activity
0.8 Cik Required cost for the selected maintenance method k
0.7 performed on the bridge deck i
0.6 Ai Sum of applicability indexes for the selected mainte-
0.5 nance method k performed on the bridge deck i
0.4
0.3 5.1. Validity of the suggested genetic algorithm
0.2
0.1 To verify whether the genetic algorithm can search for an
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 accurate solution, two cases of searching are performed under
Generation extremely limited budget constraints.
Average Fitness Best Fitness
First of all, the searching is performed to obtain an optimal
Fig. 5. Evolutionary curve of fitness. solution under the budget limited to 100,000 won in Korean
Table 9
Simulation results on weight factor (cost in ten thousands of won)
Bridge deck no. (i) Case 3 Case 4

C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164

α 0.499 0.449 0.399 0.349 0.299 0.249 0.199 0.149 0.099 0.049 0.499 0.449 0.399 0.349 0.299 0.249 0.199 0.149 0.099 0.049
β 0.000 0.050 0.100 0.150 0.200 0.250 0.300 0.350 0.400 0.450 0.000 0.050 0.100 0.150 0.200 0.250 0.300 0.350 0.400 0.450
1 Selected methods I I I I I I I I I I H H H H F H F F E E
2 H I G G G G G G I G H G G G G G G G G G
3 H H H D D D D D D D C B B B B B B D D D
4 I I I I I I I I I I C C C G H F F H F F
5 H I I I H I I I E E H H G G G H E E E E
6 H H H H B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B
7 C C E B B B B B B B C E B B B B B B B B
8 I I I I I I I I I I C C C C C C C C C C
9 I I I I I H B B B B H H H B B B B B B B
10 B D B B B B B B B B B B D B B B B B B B
P
10
Pi 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543 543
i¼1
P10
Vi 357 357 357 344 327 315 284 284 268 268 192 191 190 185 185 185 169 171 146 146
i¼1
P10
Ui 900 900 900 887 870 858 827 827 811 811 735 734 733 728 728 728 712 714 689 689
i¼1
P10
Ai 245.5 253.2 253.9 267.2 280.2 287.2 300.2 300.2 302.2 302.2 262.5 274.9 276.9 290.2 291.2 290.2 296.2 297.2 300.2 300.2
i¼1
P10
Ci 34,698 40,172 38,092 37,280 32,760 31,980 30,230 30,230 28,970 26,750 9778 9932 9924 9910 9980 10,000 9910 9880 9790 9790
i¼1
Fitness 0.998 0.982 0.965 0.949 0.937 0.927 0.920 0.914 0.908 0.903 0.907 0.902 0.898 0.897 0.895 0.893 0.892 0.893 0.893 0.894
A = no action, B = surface repair, C = mortar filling, D = epoxy injection, E = corrosion inhibiting, F = slab thickness increasing, G = steel plate attaching, H = carbon fiber sheets attaching, I = replacement.

161
162 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164

currency ($102). Considering the given budget and the unit cost
of each maintenance method in Table 1, it is known that there is
only one solution in this case (i.e. the surface repair method
must be applied to the bridge deck no. 10 under the given
condition). The result of the searching demonstrates that the
optimal solution is converged at the 60th generation. Table 8
(Column Optimal Solution Case 1) and Fig. 5(a) present the
result of this searching.
Secondly, the optimal solution is searched in this case, which
moderates the budget constraint to 3,000,000 won ($3061). There
are a few combinations of maintenance methods. It means that
bridge deck no. 7 and no. 10 are repaired by various methods
simultaneously or bridge deck no. 1, no. 2, no. 3 are repaired by the
surface repair method, respectively. Accordingly, multi-objective
function parameters set up the weight factor of the maintenance
cost in order to select the most economical one in the number of
alternatives which have the equivalent recovering effect.
As a result, the optimal solution is converged at the 51st
generation and is obtained with “mortar filling” and “surface
repair” for bridge deck no. 7 and no. 10. it is known that the
second result is likewise a reasonable solution. Table 8 (Column
Optimal solution Case 2) and Fig. 5(b) show the result of the
second case.
5.2. Sensitivity of results relative to weight factors
This section analyses the sensitivity of the recovering effect
and the applicability of maintenance methods in the selection
procedure. For that purpose, a sufficient amount of budget is
assigned to maintenance activities for all bridges and then
simulation, which regards weight factors of the recovering effect
and the applicability as variables, is performed. In this case, the
X 10
damaged area is Wi ¼ 378 m2 for all of 10 bridges together. Even
i¼1
though the most expensive methods will be applied to bridge
maintenance, the maintenance operations can be performed
within 465,000,000 won ($474,489). Thus, assuming the budget
as 500,000,000 won ($510,204), the applicability, the cost, and
the total recovering effect of maintenance alternatives are
monitored with the changes of weight factors.
γ is fixed as 0.001 to select the lowest cost alternatives if
there are several combinations which have the same recovering
effect and applicability. Table 9 shows the result of simulation

Table 10
Simulation results with various budget conditions (cost in ten thousands of won)
Example Bridge deck no. (i) Sum
data
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Wi 30 30 30 50 40 40 7 100 50 1 378
Pi 44 62 73 10 56 65 85 22 38 88 543
Case 5 (Condition) Budget: 50,000,000 Won, weight factors α = 0.399, β = 0.100, γ = 0.001
Method C C B C B B E C B B –
Vi 9 6 3 14 7 8 5 17 9 2 80
Ui 53 68 76 24 63 73 90 39 47 90 623
Ci 420 420 300 700 400 400 252 1400 500 10 4802
(Result) Fitness = 0.851526, converged generation = 162
Case 6 (Condition) Budget: 100,000,000 Won, weight factors α = 0.399, β = 0.100, γ = 0.001
Method H G B C G B B C H D –
Vi 40 28 3 14 34 8 4 17 40 2 190
Ui 84 90 76 24 90 73 89 39 78 90 733
Ci 1350 1470 300 700 1960 400 70 1400 2250 24 9924
(Result) Fitness = 0.898131, converged generation = 394
Case 7 (Condition) Budget: 200,000,000 Won, weight factors α = 0.399, β = 0.100, γ = 0.001
Method F G D I G B E G H B –
Vi 40 28 5 80 34 8 5 40 40 2 282
Ui 84 90 78 90 90 73 90 62 78 90 825
Ci 1620 1470 720 6150 1960 400 252 4900 2250 10 19,732
(Result) Fitness = 0.94029, converged generation = 138
Case 8 (Condition) Budget: 300,000,000 Won, weight factors α = 0.399, β = 0.100, γ = 0.001
Method F G H I G H E I H B –
Vi 40 28 17 80 34 25 5 68 40 2 339
Ui 84 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 78 90 882
Ci 1620 1470 1350 6150 1960 1800 252 12,300 2250 10 29,162
(Result) Fitness = 0.958733, converged generation = 148
Case 9 (Condition) Budget: 400,000,000 Won, weight factors α = 0.399, β = 0.100, γ = 0.001
Method I G H I I H E I I B –
Vi 46 28 17 80 34 25 5 68 52 2 357
Ui 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 900
Ci 3690 1470 1350 6150 4920 1800 252 12,300 6150 10 38,092
(Result) Fitness = 0.965842, Converged generation = 146
 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164
400
350
300
Total Recovering Effect
250
200
190
150
100
80
50
0 0
0 100
Budget (Millions of Wons)
Fig. 6. Investment efficiency based on total recovering effect.
under the budget of 500,000,000 won ($510,204) for Case 3 and
100,000,000 won ($102,040) for Case 4.
When the weight factor of the applicability (β) is increased
from 0.0 to 0.1, there is no change in total recovering effect for
the all bridges. However, increasing β continuously, the total
recovering effect and the fitness of the optimal solution are
decreased and the total maintenance cost is also reduced to far
below the given budget. Consequently, regarding this result
comprehensively, when the weight factors are set up as
α = 0.399 and β = 0.1, the most proper alternative can be
searched.
5.3. Decision making for reasonable investment limits
The weight factors, α = 0.399 and β = 0.1, are fixed and the
budget constraints are changed incrementally from 50,000,000
won ($51,020) to 400,000,000 won ($408,163) to consider the
result of selected alternatives.
As shown in Table 10, it is known that as budgets increase,
more rehabilitation methods are selected over repair methods in
order to acquire a better recovering effect. The interrelation of
the budget and the total recovering effect of all bridges are
shown in Fig. 6.
The graph, which presents an increase of the total
recovering effect of bridges relative to the increasing amount
of investment, is useful to determine the investment efficiency
and the proper amount of investment. Generally, the proper
investment can be the point that maximizes the increase of the
total recovering effect of all bridges when the equivalent cost
is invested.
Consequently, the most effective investment limit for the
maintenance activities is between 50,000,000 won ($51,020)
and 100,000,000 won ($102,040) and the slope is considerably
softened at 300,000,000 won ($306,122), which can be the
marginal limitation of budget where the incremental benefits
approach zero.
163
357
339
282
200 300 400 500
6. Conclusion
There are many feasible solutions for the selection of repair
and rehabilitation methods at a network level. The total number
of possible solutions is about 910, approximately 3.486 × 109
solutions for a problem size of 10 bridges and 9 maintenance
methods. It can be almost impossible to check every possible
solution one by one. The use of traditional optimization tech-
niques takes a lot of time to find an optimal solution.
Genetic algorithms that are excellent tools to handle com-
binatorial problems in general are used to obtain optimal solu-
tion to select bridge maintenance alternatives. The conclusions
of this research can be summarized as follows:
1. To select proper repair and rehabilitation methods for a large
number of bridges at a network level within the given bud-
get, a methodology that considers the recovering effect, the
applicability of maintenance methods, and the cost of a
project is suggested.
2. To examine the applicability of genetic algorithms, the pre-
sented algorithm is applied to the optimization problem of
maintenance activity selection that has many feasible solu-
tions. Most results show that approximately 150 generations
is enough to converge to the optimal solution for a problem
size of 10 bridges and 9 maintenance methods.
3. By applying the suggested methodology to several numerical
cases, the selection procedure of bridge maintenance meth-
ods is demonstrated and the relationship between the recov-
ering effect and the applicability is analyzed. The most
proper methods are selected when the values of alpha, beta,
and gamma are 0.399, 0.1,and 0.001, respectively.
4. Using genetic algorithms, benefits such as the total recover-
ing effect and the applicability of maintenance methods
induced from the total investment cost can be easily calculat-
ed. Therefore, it is useful for bridge management agencies in
determining optimal budget.
164 C.-K. Lee, S.-K. Kim / Automation in Construction 16 (2007) 153–164
To develop the prototype system for the repair and rehabilita-
tion for bridge maintenance, some inevitable assumptions and
premises are adopted in this paper. If data on the specific
recovering effect and the applicability of maintenance methods
are collected through extensive laboratory and field tests, it is
possible to select more realistic maintenance methods using the
proposed system.
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