Using Cost-Benefit Analysis to Evaluate Mitigation for Lifeline Systems

The purpose of this research is to examine how cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can be utilized to evaluate the attractiveness of mitigation for lifeline systems subject to earthquake ground motion. We propose a framework for the CBA that can be used in conjunction with work being completed by other researchers at MCEER (Shinozuka et al., 2000; Chang et al., 2000). With their development of fragility curves and insight into specific utility lifelines systems, our framework is useful for the next step in the analysis. In this paper, we use an example of a transportation system to show the CBA framework. Then, we consider two case studies to show the effects of the disruption of utility lifeline service on two stakeholders in the analysis. First, the indirect economic loss to business owners is studied, and then, the cost to public agencies to shelter displaced residents is considered. The two lifelines serving as case studies for this work are the electric power system in Shelby County, Tennessee [building on previous work done at MCEER] and the water distribution system in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California [working with the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)]. Our research provides a framework to link data from the physical and engineering sciences (i.e., seismology of the region and vulnerability of the lifeline) with the social sciences (i.e., costs of natural disasters and public policy implications of mitigation). Using Cost-Benefit Analysis to Evaluate Mitigation for Lifeline Systems