An AHP-based prioritization model for bridge maintenance after natural disasters

The island of Taiwan’s location, topography, and weak geological structure make its bridges vulnerable to the destructive effects of natural disasters. This was revealed in the aftermath of the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake and 2009 Typhoon Morakot, which severely damaged hundreds of bridges across several cities and counties. In crises like these, the immediate restoration of bridges to their pre-disaster levels of safety and serviceability is of the utmost importance, as they serve as critical channels for emergency response and socio-economic recovery. However, the national disaster management system currently lacks an efficient strategy for dealing with such situations. This paper proposes an AHP-based prioritization model to support bridge officials in establishing the order of priority for post-disaster bridge maintenance actions. Through the evaluation of twelve decision criteria, bridges are ranked and categorized according to their vulnerability to disaster-induced damage and their strategic importance. The model uses the information available from the Taiwan Bridge Management System (TBMS) and can be applied to bridge maintenance management following disasters triggered by earthquakes, typhoons, or floods. A case study based on the 2018 Hualien earthquake was performed to demonstrate the model’s utility.