Life-cycle cost analysis of deteriorating civil infrastructures incorporating social sustainability

Abstract

Social sustainability has rarely been considered in the design and management of civil infrastructures. This paper presents a two-level, six-category classification of social impacts regarding civil infrastructures and the monetization approach to transfer social impacts into social costs. Social cost-incorporated life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is performed on a deteriorating bridge to discuss the economic efficiency and social sustainability of preventive and essential maintenance strategies. The study shows that social costs account for a large share of life-cycle costs, and social economic losses and personal economic losses are the two biggest parts of social costs. A preventive maintenance strategy shows better comprehensive sustainability with respect to economic and social considerations.