The Conceptual Framework of the Government-Sponsored Rural Road Improvement Project Evaluation and Selection

To take advantage from locating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) mainland region, the Thai government has established a policy of being logistics and transportation hub. The policy has therefore challenged the Department of Rural Roads (DRR) and particularly the Bureau of Rural Roads (BRR) 11, 12, and 14 undertaking responsibility of all rural roads in the south part of Thailand. The BRR strategic plan and implementation have been demanded to reform. This research aimed to create the conceptual framework of route project improvement execution plan for BRRs’ decision-making on project investment prioritization.  The focus group interview method was applied to gather factors influencing transportation investment projects in order to develop the criteria of route project improvement prioritization. In addition, the score level of each criteria was also collected through this method. Then, to rank the important criteria, the questionnaire was developed to gain the data of pairwise comparison and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was applied to analyze the data. The results showed that the framework was suitable for the BRRs’ long term route project improvement execution plan while the instant application was appropriated for the BRRs’ short term plan.To take advantage from locating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) mainland region, the Thai government has established a policy of being logistics and transportation hub. The policy has, therefore, challenged the Department of Rural Roads (DRR) and particularly the Bureau of Rural Roads (BRR) 11, 12, and 14 undertaking responsibility for all rural roads in the south part of Thailand. The BRR strategic plan and implementation have been demanded to reform. This research aimed to create the conceptual framework of route project improvement execution plan for BRRs’ decision-making on project investment prioritization.  The focus group interview method was applied to gather factors influencing transportation investment projects in order to develop the criteria of route project improvement prioritization. In addition, the score level of each criterion was also collected through this method. Then, to rank the important criteria, the questionnaire was developed to gain the data of pairwise comparison and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was applied to analyze the data. The results showed that the framework was suitable for the BRRs’ long-term route project improvement execution plan while the instant application was appropriated for the BRRs’ short-term plan

The Integrated Appraisal Framework of Rural Road Improvement Projects

The government policy for Thailand to be a logistics and transportation hub presents challenges to the Department of Rural Roads (DRR). The Bureau of Rural Roads (BRR) 11, 12, and 14 as the subsidiaries of the DRR have been enforced to reform their methods of appraising rural road improvement projects.  Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) was first developed but was found to be inappropriate within the fiscal constraints since it was not based on monetary terms. This paper explores the DRR’s attempts to overcome this problem. The DRR conducts a Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) to filter the improvement projects prioritized under the MCDM approach. While calculation is not a problem under BCA, the method cannot be readily adapted to incorporate all relevant parameters particularly those relating to the social benefits of road improvement projects. These parameters are important in the Thai context and compatible with the characteristics of rural roads. The findings reported demonstrate that the incorporation of factors taken into account in MCDM but overlooked in traditional BCA is currently impracticable in view of the lack information and difficulty of expressing those parameters in monetary terms. The paper discusses supplementing the DRR’s improvement project appraisal process by BCA methods thus enhancing the effective and transparent allocation of the DRR’s budget, while simultaneously providing regional benefits

Condition Rating System For Thailand’s Concrete Bridges

The Bridge Management System (BMS) is designed to maximise use of available data and determine the optimal strategy to perform necessary improvements to bridges in the most cost-effective manner. This paper provides a condition rating system to meet the requirements of Thailand’s Department of Highways (DOH). A rating system to assess the existing condition of bridges is proposed. Segmental inspection is developed to execute efficient elementlevel evaluations and collect data that demonstrate deterioration patterns in bridge elements. The paper also describes inspection procedures for field survey execution, which enables observed distresses at the level of sub-elements or members to be allocated. Recommendations from bridge experts reveal that the proposed rating system is robust, implementable in actual practice, and suitable for efficient application in evaluating the nation’s concrete highway bridges. Although the bridge condition rating was developed in response to the specific characteristics of Thailand’s bridges, the proposed methodology can easily be extended to other bridge agencies

CONDITION RATING SYSTEM FOR THAILAND'S CONCRETE BRIDGES

The Bridge Management System is designed to maximise use of available data and determine the optimal strategy to perform necessary improvements to bridges in the most cost-effective manner. This paper provides a condition rating system to meet the requirements of Thailand’s Department of Highways (DOH). A rating system to assess the existing condition of bridges is proposed. Segmental inspection is developed to execute efficient element-level evaluations and collect data that demonstrate deterioration patterns in bridge elements. The paper also describes inspection procedures for field survey execution, which enables observed distresses at the level of sub-elements or members to be allocated. Recommendations from bridge experts reveal that the proposed rating system is robust, implementable in actual practice, and suitable for efficient application in evaluating the nation’s concrete highway bridges. Although the bridge condition rating was developed in response to the specific characteristics of Thailand’s bridges, the proposed methodology can easily be extended to other bridge agencies