Life-Cycle Maintenance Management Strategies for Bridges in Kuwait

Abstract

To meet the requirements of 21st century, Kuwait ministry of public works have realized that they should use modern technologies and management system to face challenges of modern world. So, they maintenance Administration has launched a massive program which helps to meet development needs and helps to maintain the infrastructure’s sustainable growth. Thus, it is very necessary to develop appropriate bridge maintenance strategies to meet serviceability criteria and life cycle cost optimization of new bridges. And main purpose was to meet the requirements of development needs. Bridge management system (BMS) is a software or we can say a management tool which helps us to maintain or manage the bridges. These are the following main points which helps decision makers to make a best decision. Defines bridge condition, identifies bridge needs for like if we need replacement of any material or renovation can be identified by BMS, cost of bridge during maintenance and management of the bridge, identifies bridges for Replacement and rehabilitation programs (MR & R) and also identifies for the assessment of bridges. According to replacement and rehabilitation programs minor changes or maintenance of the bridges is done by Work management system (WBS). This paper proposes a framework that can enhance the effectiveness of Kuwait’s Integrated Maintenance Management System (KIMMS). A survey for bridge contractors around the world was used as the research method for this study. This contains questions regarding their current bridge management system (BMS) and what are the input and output parameters it considers in the process. BIM (Bridge information modeling) technology is used to reduce the errors in designing and construction of the bridges by using BMS, BRIDGE OWNER may have a sustainability in the maintenance and enhancement of its bridge. We can determine the cash flow to be used in future for the replacement and repairment of bridge. It helps to adopt maintenance program to maintain life-cycle costs for the community. Helps to review the replacement and rehabilitation strategies. Helps to improve the economic life of infrastructure assets. After evaluating the BMSs used by the respondents, it turned out that the most effective procedure should have three main processes to be followed; maintenance planning, maintenance optimization, and maintenance decision support. Overall, the conceptualized framework considers an optimized procedure for maintenance management considering the balance in cost and quality of the process.