SIAMAK SALIMINEJAD

ii The task of preserving and improving infrastructure systems is becoming extremely challenging because these systems are decaying due to aging and over utilization, have limited funding, and are complex in nature (geographically spread, and affect and are affected by technological, environmental, social, security, political, and economic factors). The infrastructure management paradigm has emerged to assist in the challenging task of managing infrastructure systems in a systematic and cost-effective manner. Infrastructure management is a data-driven process. It relies on large databases that contain information on the system’s inventory, condition, maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) history, utilization, and cost. This data feeds into analytical models that assess infrastructure current conditions, predict future conditions, and develop optimal M&R strategies. Thus, complete and accurate data is essential to a reliable infrastructure management system. This study contributes to advancing the infrastructure management paradig