Measurements of risk and rationality in civil engineering

This paper addresses the problem of quantifying engineering judgement. Its influence on civil engineering design and construction is measured by the statistical analysis of an opinion survey taken amongst a large cross section of practising civil engineers in Australia. The success of this survey permitted an examination of such matters as the value of experience; risk aversion (under various constraints - financial, reputational, life and disability) in critical and non critical, public and personal situations; tolerance levels for risk; intrinsic safety factors; and analytic transitivity (rationality). These measured perceptions of risk are compared with observed failure and error rates. The implications of the survey findings for error minimisation, legal penalties, cost benefit analysis, insurances and specifications are discussed (a).

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/8837102690
• Authors:
  • Ingles, O G
• Conference:
  • International Conference on Applications of Statistics and Probability in Soil and Structural Engineering, 4th, 1983, Florence, Italy
• Publication Date: 1983-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 357-73
• Serial:
  • Volume: 1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Civil engineering; Construction; Decision making; Design; Errors; Failure; Human factors; Measurement; Penalties; Risk taking
• ATRI Terms: Civil engineering; Construction; Decision process; Design; Error; Failure; Human factors; Measurement; Penalty; Risk taking
• Subject Areas: Construction; Design;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01419708
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• ISBN: 8837102690
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Aug 24 2012 7:22AM