Development of a tunnel management system for existing railroad tunnel

Abstract

The studies of Asset Management System have indicated a significant increase recently and are becoming popular every year. Although the study of a bridge and pavement management system has been progressing, the study of a tunnel management system has been progressing infrequently due to the difficulty of determining and diagnosing the process of deterioration. We have envisioned a challenge for the development of a management system for tunnels. Railway network have been spreading rapidly because of social requirements after the industrial revolution. In recent years, many railway structures were found to be in its rehabilitation stage. The Tunnel Management System (TMS) has been developed in accordance with the fundamental principle of Life Cycle Cost (LCC) for the purpose of managing maintenance work effectively and economically. In this study, algorithms of two sub-systems for TMS have been developed. One of the sub-systems is the and Evaluation system for lining condition. If this and Evaluation system is used, anyone can evaluate without the services of a specialist engineer. This system provides a simple inspection rule and the Inspection Check Sheet. All items which should be inspected are covered by this sheet. It is possible to evaluate only by checking the appropriate box (item) and adding their weight point. The weighted point average will be calculated by means of the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and the LCC Calculation system. The LCC Calculation system predicts deterioration of lining, and can calculate maintenance and rehabilitation cost annually for a period of 30 years. This TMS has made it possible to calculate the LCC of each tunnel and to support decision-making of tunnel management. (A) This paper was presented at Safety in the underground space - Proceedings of the ITA-AITES 2006 World Tunnel Congress and the 32nd ITA General Assembly, Seoul, Korea, 22-27 April 2006. For the covering abstract see ITRD E129148. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.