Date of Award

Spring 5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mathematics

First Advisor

John Matthews

Second Advisor

Xiyuan Liu

Abstract

The Pipeline Assessment and Certification Program (PACP) was developed by the National Association of Sewer Service Companies, the industry-accepted protocol for condition rating of sewer pipes in the US. The PACP method relies exclusively on visual inspections performed using Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV), where existing structural and operation and maintenance (O&M) defects are observed by certified operators. A limitation of the PACP method is that it does not use pipe characteristics, depth, soil type, surface conditions, pipe criticality, and capacity, nor the distribution of structural defects or history of preventative maintenance to determine the condition rating of the sewer pipe segment. Therefore, this research work addresses this limitation and develops a comprehensive rating model using Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) that incorporates pipe characteristics, environmental characteristics, and information about PACP structural score and PACP O&M score in hydraulic factors. Factors such as pipe age, pipe material, diameter, shape, depth, soil type, loading, type of carried waste, seismic zone, PACP structural score, and PACP O&M score are used. The results showed a below-average validity percentage because linear regression assumes a linear relationship between the input and output variables. Still, the actual relation between response and the predictor is not linear. Our proposed model is applied to the data received from the City of Shreveport, LA, which is currently under a Federal Consent Decree.

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