Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are responsible for keeping their road network in a state of good repair while also aiming to reduce congestion through the implementation of different traffic control and demand management strategies. These strategies can result in changes in traffic volume distributions, which in turn affect the level of pavement deterioration due to traffic loading. To address this issue, this dissertation introduces an integrated simulation-optimization framework that accounts for the combined effects of pavement conditions and traffic management decision-making strategies. The research focuses on exploring the range of possible performance outcomes resulting from this integrated modeling approach. The research also applied the developed framework to a particular traffic demand management strategy and assessed the impact of dynamic tolls around the specific site of I-66 inside the beltway. The integrated traffic-management/pavement-treatment framework was applied to address both the operational and pavement performance of the network. Aimsun hybrid macro/meso dynamic user equilibrium experiments were used to simulate the network with a modified cost function taking care of the dynamic pricing along the I-66 tolled facility. Furthermore, the framework was expanded to include the development of a systematic and comprehensive methodology to optimize the allocation of networkwide pavement treatment work zones over space and time. The proposed methodology also contributed to the development of a surrogate function that reduces the optimization computation burden so that researchers would be able to conduct work zone allocation optimization without having to run expensive simulation work. Finally, in this dissertation, a user-friendly decision-support tool was developed to assist in the pavement treatment and project selection planning process. We use machine learning models to encapsulate the simulation optimization process. / Doctor of Philosophy / Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are responsible for keeping their road network in a state of good repair. Improvement in pavement rehabilitation plans can lead to savings in the order of tens of millions of dollars. Pavement rehabilitation plans result in work zone schedules on the transportation network. Limited roadway capacities due to work zones affect traffic assignments and routing on the roads, which impacts the selection of optimal operation strategies to manage the resulting traffic. On the other hand, the choice of any particular operation and routing strategy will result in different distributions of traffic volumes on the roads and affect the pavement deterioration levels due to traffic loading, leading to other optimal rehabilitation plans and corresponding work zones. While there have been several research efforts on infrastructure condition assessment and other research efforts on traffic control and demand management strategies, there is a wide gap in the nexus of the two fields. To address this issue, this dissertation introduces an integrated simulation-optimization framework that accounts for the combined effects of pavement conditions and traffic management decision-making strategies. The research focuses on exploring the range of possible performance outcomes resulting from this integrated modeling approach. The research also applied the developed framework to a particular traffic demand management strategy and assessed the impact of dynamic tolls around the specific site of I-66 inside the beltway. The integrated traffic-management/pavement-treatment framework was applied to address both the operational and pavement performance of the network. Furthermore, the framework was expanded to include the development of a systematic and comprehensive methodology to optimize the allocation of networkwide pavement treatment work zones over space and time. The proposed methodology also contributed to the development of a surrogate function that reduces the optimization computation burden so that researchers would be able to conduct work zone allocation optimization without having to run expensive simulation work. Finally, in this dissertation, a user-friendly decision-support tool was developed to assist in the pavement treatment and project selection planning process. We use machine learning models to encapsulate the simulation optimization process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/112543 |
| Date | 08 November 2022 |
| Creators | Abi Aad, Mirla |
| Contributors | Civil and Environmental Engineering, Abbas, Montasir M., Trani, Antonio A., Wang, Linbing, Zhang, Wenwen |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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