Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The importance of infrastructure (e.g. roads, buildings, industrial facilities, water, waste water, airports, etc.) to our economic prosperity and quality of life is a well accepted fact. Sustaining this infrastructure and improving project and asset performance requires good management and a sound technological foundation. Therefore, the focus of this proposed research program is on knowledge creation and application to the technological foundation of information generation, management, and use in infrastructure. Making this a particularly challenging problem, are: (a) the dynamic and context sensitive nature of construction, (b) the complex social, economic and environmental impacts of infrastructure, and (c) the proliferation of sensing, communications, and information processing tools. To address these challenges, the proposed research has three thrusts: (1) Generation of information with improved frequency, accuracy, and usefulness by applying model based a priori information, evidence based reasoning, data fusion, integration and signal processing to information acquired using 3D imaging, automated locating and web based systems, (2) Innovative management and use of integrated information systems for improved work package planning, supply network management, automated project diagnostics, and decision support based on project control and asset condition metrics, and (3) Understanding the impact of information on infrastructure sustainability via dynamic modeling of self-financing systems, development of construction performance and asset management metrics, and analysis of the impact of practices and technologies on performance. These research thrusts are directly aligned with major initiatives such as the National Infrastructure Systems Technology Road Map (CIS-TRM), and the NRC Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE) recommendations. Expected impacts of the research include improved project and asset state estimation, improved data fusion methods, and improved management tools, as well as education and training of a new generation of researchers and practitioners.