A decision support methodology for rehabilitation management of concrete bridges

Managing the existing bridge infrastructure has become a major social and economic concern in North America. This is due to the critical conditions of the deteriorated bridges and the limited funds available to repair their deficiencies. Most transportation agencies make bridge investment decisions based on a combination of some form of quantitative data analysis and the subjective judgments of decision and policy makers. The subjective nature of the decision making process easily raises questions about whether the investment decisions are being developed in a fair, equitable and systematic manner. This dissertation presents a decision support methodology developed for the rehabilitation management of concrete bridges in general, and for bridge decks in particular. A probabilistic bridge condition assessment method is developed. This method is consistent with the current practice in bridge inspection and the Markovian approach to model deterioration. A means to rank bridge projects is presented, which makes use of a hierarchy structure to represent the problem and rank the different bridge projects using the Multi Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT). A method to evaluate the available rehabilitation strategies is discussed. This method uses a modified Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Monte Carlo simulation technique to evaluate the weights for the different rehabilitation strategies available for each project. A decision making technique to select a recommended work program that maximizes benefits to the network and to the users is developed. The developed methodology has the potential to be extended to other bridge components and to be the foundation for a comprehensive bridge management system. The significant features of this methodology can be summarized as follows: (1) It is consistent with the current practice in bridge management condition assessment and deterioration modeling. (2) It employs a multiple-criteria decision making process; (3) it has the flexibility to allow engineers to utilize their experience and judgment in the decision making process; and (4) It combines the network and the project levels of the bridge management process and performs effectively within a limited budget

Relaxation of prestressed steel used in construction of the confederation bridge

Relaxation is one of the main sources of time-dependent stress losses in prestressed concrete construction. In the present study, an experimental investigation of the stress relaxation of the prestressing steel used in construction of the Confederation Bridge is undertaken. Relaxation is measured by monitoring the reduction in stress level in an elastically strained specimen and maintained at a constant extension. Two testing methods are adopted for the experimental program, namely, the release method and the lateral deflection method. A special setup is built for each of the two testing methods. Six specimens are tested using the release testing method. Of these, two specimens are tested at each of the three initial stress levels: 60%, 70% and 80% of the ultimate strength of the steel. The lateral deflection testing method is conducted on two specimens at two initial stress levels of 60% and 70% of the ultimate strength of the steel. The experimental results of this research are compared with steel stress relaxation estimated by the PCI expression and the CEB-FIP Code equation. These comparisons show that the available expressions underestimate the magnitude of stress relaxation losses. Based on the results of this research, an alternative equation to estimate stress relaxation of steel is proposed

Le Plan d’action pour la médecine rurale : examen de l’éducation médicale pré-doctorale au Canada

Background: There is currently a maldistribution of physicians across Canada, with rural areas facing a greater physician shortage. The taskforce between the College of Family Physicians and the Society of Rural Physicians created a report, “The Rural Road Map for Action” (RRMA) to improve rural Canadians' health by training and retaining an increased number of rural family physicians. Using the RRMA as a framework, this paper aims to examine the extent to which medical schools in Canada are following the RRMA. Methods: Researchers used cross-sectional survey and collected data from 12 of 17 medical school undergraduate Deans from across Canada using both closed and open ended survey questions. Results were analyzed using quantitative (frequencies) and qualitative methods (content analysis). Results: Medical schools use different policies and procedures to recruit rural and Indigenous students. Although longitudinal integrated clerkships offer many benefits, few students have access to them. Leadership representation on decision-making education committees differed across medical schools pointing to a variation in the value of rural physicians’ perspectives. Conclusion: This study illustrated that medical schools are making efforts that align with the RRMA. It is critical they continue to make strategic decisions embedded in educational policy and leadership to reinforce the importance of and influence of rural medical education to support workforce planning.Contexte : À l’heure actuelle, la répartition des médecins sur le territoire canadien est inégale, les régions rurales étant confrontées à une plus forte pénurie de médecins. Le groupe de travail constitué par le Collège des médecins de famille du Canada (CMFC) et la Société de la médecine rurale du Canada (SMRC) a produit un rapport intitulé « Plan d’action pour la médecine rurale » (PAMR) qui vise à améliorer la santé des Canadiens vivant en milieu rural par la formation et la rétention d’un nombre accru de médecins de famille en milieu rural. Partant du cadre du PAMR, cet article évalue dans quelle mesure les facultés de médecine du Canada suivent le Plan d’action. Méthodes : Les chercheurs ont eu recours à une enquête transversale, comportant des questions fermées et ouvertes, pour recueillir des données auprès de 12 des 17 doyens aux études de premier cycle des facultés de médecine canadiennes. Les résultats ont été analysés à l’aide de méthodes quantitatives (calcul des fréquences) et qualitatives (analyse de contenu). Résultats : Les facultés de médecine appliquent des politiques et des procédures différentes pour recruter des étudiants ruraux et autochtones. Les stages intégrés longitudinaux offrent de nombreux avantages, mais peu d’étudiants y ont accès. La représentation des dirigeants au sein des comités décisionnels sur l’éducation diffère selon les facultés de médecine, ce qui indique une variation de la valeur des perspectives des médecins ruraux. Conclusion : Cette étude montre que les facultés de médecine déploient des initiatives qui sont conformes au PAMR. Il est essentiel que leurs décisions stratégiques demeurent ancrées dans un leadership et une politique éducative visant à renforcer et à mettre en valeur l’exposition des étudiants à la médecine rurale pour appuyer la planification des effectifs

A Markovian-Genetic Algorithm Model for Predicting Pavement Deterioratio

Pavement structures are constantly deteriorating due to many distresses, for instance cracks and rutting that are initiated and expanded. Deterioration models of pavement structures is an important component of pavement management systems (PMS). The deterioration of pavements has been extensively modeled using Markov chains. This paper aims at formulating a more efficient deterioration model to predict the condition of pavement sections. It is proposed to accomplish this by developing a Markovian deterioration model coupled with a meta-heuristic search optimization method, namely genetic algorithms (GA). An essential component of the Markov chain model is the transition probability matrix. In the proposed model, a standard percentage prediction method was used to calculate the transition probabilities. This is then calibrated by integrating the GA method with the Markov chain. The model is based on the historical international roughness index (IRI) data retrieved from the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) database. To test the validity of the method, a real-life case study is used and the performance of the developed model was assessed using both validation and testing data. For predicting pavement conditions, this study concluded that calibrating calculated transition probabilities using meta-heuristic optimization results in better performance than developing the transition probabilities using classical methods. The Markovian-GA model developed in the present study can be used to predict the future condition of pavement facilities in order to assist engineers in planning the optimum maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) actions

Editorial : automation and artificial intelligence in construction and management of civil infrastructure

The construction industry, similar to other industries, has been moving toward automation and implementation of AI tools to enhance analysis, management and decision-making. The construction industry typically takes longer than other industries in inaugurating innovation and advanced technologies due to the complex nature of the industry. Research effort is deemed necessary to understand needs and overcome challenges in terms of studying the capabilities and potential of existing tools and technologies in areas related to construction engineering and management. The current Research Topic attempted to collect relevant research work in terms of automation and AI application in constructing new assets and managing existing infrastructure. Further research is needed to standardize these processes and align research work with current needs

The rural road map for action: an examination of undergraduate medical education in Canada

Background: There is currently a maldistribution of physicians across Canada, with rural areas facing a greater physician shortage. The taskforce between the College of Family Physicians and the Society of Rural Physicians created a report, “The Rural Road Map for Action” (RRMA) to improve rural Canadians' health by training and retaining an increased number of rural family physicians. Using the RRMA as a framework, this paper aims to examine the extent to which medical schools in Canada are following the RRMA. Methods: Researchers used cross-sectional survey and collected data from 12 of 17 medical school undergraduate Deans from across Canada using both closed and open ended survey questions. Results were analyzed using quantitative (frequencies) and qualitative methods (content analysis). Results: Medical schools use different policies and procedures to recruit rural and Indigenous students. Although longitudinal integrated clerkships offer many benefits, few students have access to them. Leadership representation on decision-making education committees differed across medical schools pointing to a variation in the value of rural physicians’ perspectives. Conclusion: This study illustrated that medical schools are making efforts that align with the RRMA. It is critical they continue to make strategic decisions embedded in educational policy and leadership to reinforce the importance of and influence of rural medical education to support workforce planning

Variation in market access decisions for cell and gene therapies across the United States, Canada, and Europe

Transformative cell and gene therapies have now launched worldwide, and many potentially curative cell and gene therapies are in development, offering the prospect of significant health gains for patients. Access to these therapies depend on decisions made by health technology assessment (HTA) and payer organizations. We sought to describe the emerging cell and gene therapies market access landscape by analyzing 17 US commercial payer medical policies, and HTA reports from five European countries and Canada. We found that some US health plans applied coverage restrictions more often than others (four plans applied restrictions in all decisions, while four plans applied restrictions in < 30% of decisions). The European and Canadian HTA bodies recommend access to fewer therapies than US health plans, reflecting a more stringent approach in the context of limited evidence and high scientific uncertainty that is commonly associated with these treatments. Our findings suggest that patient access to approved cell and gene therapies is restricted in all regions studied, though the nature of these restrictions differs between US health plans and the European/Canada HTA recommendations. Payers, HTA groups, pharmaceutical companies, and other stakeholders should collaborate to more clearly define the “uncertainties” and develop market access policies that balance benefits of early access with ongoing data collection to close evidence gaps over time