Urban stormwater construction method selection using a hybrid multi-criteria approach

Construction of urban stormwater collection systems has inherent complexities in terms of the number of conflicting criteria and stakeholders involved in the process. These conditions make it a must to choose a suitable construction method which considers all the aspects of the problem. In this study, selection of the most suitable construction method in urban stormwater collection systems is performed using a systematic and structured hybrid Multi-criteria Decision Making approach. The approach combines Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Compromise Programming (CP). This combination reduces the tedious and time consuming process of pair-wise comparisons needed for conventional AHP, which makes it a more desirable approach for decision makers. A real case-study in the city of Tehran, Iran is used to show the complexities of the problem and the suitability of the approach. Discussing the results, new insights are presented on the parameter p in CP technique. The results reveal that the utilized approach has potential to be applied for method selection in other fields of urban construction. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.