AHP as a Useful Tool in the Assessment of the Technical Condition of Hydrotechnical Constructions

Abstract

The key challenge for sustainable water management is to carry out a proper assessment of the technical condition of hydrotechnical constructions. Maintaining them in a good state is a prerequisite for ensuring the safety of objects, as well as adjacent areas. This paper compares the results of field research obtained by three methods to assess the technical condition of structures located on the Wełna River. The main objective is to determine the differences between the methods and to indicate the most important assessment elements and criteria. Moreover, it was checked if the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) can be used to carry out the correct assessment of hydrotechnical construction. An assessment that will be based on the hierarchy of factors, which is not often used in other methods. The AHP was applied for the first time to assess the technical condition of hydrotechnical constructions. Based on AHP, three variants of different weights for factors, including exploitation problems and damage to construction elements, were selected. The new variants developed by the authors allow for a more accurate, multifactor assessment. The use of scales to determine the importance of individual elements contributes to the actual representation of the technical condition of the object, which is often over- or underestimated by other assessment methods. The analysis shows that the AHP method is a useful tool to support the assessment of the technical condition of hydrotechnical construction. The use of AHP as a universal assessment method will compare the technical condition of hydrotechnical constructions located all over the world.

Decision support system for community managed rainwater harvesting: A case study in the salinity-prone coastal region of Bangladesh

“…In that case, the pairwise comparison and classification of the obtained data for each criterion should be modified based on stakeholder surveys and input from local experts. Experts’ areas of specialization should be taken into consideration while using their input in the AHP structure and applying this tool to another context [ 104 , 110 , 131 , 132 ].…”

“…In this study, a multi-criteria performance evaluation tool based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is proposed for the performance analysis of community-based rainwater harvesting systems in the salinity-prone coastal region of Bangladesh. The Analytic Hierarchy Process, developed by Thomas L. Saaty in the late 1970s, has gained recognition as a strong and widely used methodology for dealing with multi-criteria decision-making complexities in a variety of fields [ 99 ], including project management, risk assessment, engineering, healthcare, business, and environmental management [ [100] , [101] , [102] , [103] , [104] , [105] , [106] ].…”

Effect of Hydraulic Structure on Mitigating Extreme Hydrological Conditions of a Small River in the Temperate Zone (Główna River, Central Europe)

“…The construction of the Kowalski Reservoir several decades ago corresponds with the broader policy of the expansion of water retention possibilities in Poland. The assumptions are implemented on several tiers, including the construction and reconstruction of weirs [47,48], the damming of natural lakes [49,50], and the construction of dam reservoirs [51,52]. Governmental institutions are conducting intensive work on the development of a long-term programme of construction of 19 retention reservoirs of various sizes for more than USD 1 billion [53].…”

The concept for innovative Comprehensive Assessment of Lowland Rivers

“…Measurements of hydrotechnical structures. In the case of the Trojanka River, the technical condition of hydraulic structures was assessed using the Kaca and Interewicz method [31,32]. This method assesses individual structure elements such as abutments and their backfill, lifting mechanism, sluice, sluice guide, impervious apron, downstream and upstream apron, building signposting, anti-corrosion and start-up protection, footbridge on the valve, and sealing.…”

“…The final grade for each object is calculated as the average of the scores obtained for each element. Research has shown that the Kaca and Interewicz method is effective and suitable for assessing small structures but should not be used for large hydraulic structures such as dams [32]. The authors decided to use this method because there are only small structures, such as weirs, small sills, and culverts, on the Trojanka River.…”