Multistage Optimization of Reconstruction Sequence of Highways

A method to determine the optimal groups of road segments to be simultaneously treated during road widening programs is described. This methodology specifically addresses a prioritizing system and the closure strategy considering the disutility due to rehabilitation. The dynamic programming methodology is utilized for the optimization procedure where the problem has been formulated as a utility maximization problem. The mathematical modeling of the problem and its solution technique are described. An example is included. The results indicate that the proposed method is useful for multistage optimization problems such as road network planning. The proposed method differs from the conventional design method for the determination of reconstruction sequence because the closure strategy is simultaneously determined by the multistage optimization.