Potential Pitfalls to Alternative Selection

ABSTRACT ONLY - Aging infrastructure and water resource improvement acts are certain to drive the need to identify new water storage projects and remediation and upgrades of existing dams. Selecting the right alternative is an important first step in the process but how do you know if you have chosen wisely? Industry consultants and agencies use a variety of approaches when evaluating dam safety alternatives, ranging from qualitative comparisons to a more systematic, quantitative framework consisting of a multi-criteria decision analysis matrix. Some groups are more founded in risk-informed decisions, while others consider the risk reduction effectiveness in a more qualitative approach. What should the most important criteria be when selecting an alternative? Is it risk reduction, project cost, or something entirely different? In a typical matrix-based multi-decision criteria analysis, which evaluates a large number of decision criterions, is your most important criteria being diluted by including too many parameters? This poster will explore these questions and provide a suggested approach to making sure the most important criterion are informing the final decision.