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Sustainability
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Sustainable Assessment of Civil Infrastructure Systems and Risk Analysis
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Sustainable Assessment of Civil Infrastructure Systems and Risk Analysis

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Hazards and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 November 2025 | Viewed by 3567

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jarosław Górecki

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Interests: construction management; risk analysis; circular economy; sustainability; cost risk
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As a core element that helps society function, civil infrastructure comprises basic facilities and systems, including roads, railways, airports, tunnels, power stations and more. Some of these facilities fall under critical infrastructure, which is considered essential by governments for the functioning of a society and economy. Works of civil infrastructure usually have a significant influence on environmental degradation, as their products influence economies, the environment and societies throughout their entire life cycle. Therefore, faced with the uncertainty of tomorrow, we must find a solution for managing all physical infrastructure systems, with a particular emphasis on the concepts of sustainability and risk. One example of a cutting-edge approach that could be used to address these is the life-cycle sustainability assessment of a civil infrastructure system, and this may refer to the evaluation of all negative economic, environmental and social impacts throughout the life cycle of a civil engineering project, as well as benefits in decision-making processes towards less destructive and more projects as a whole.

Given this background, I am pleased to invite you to consider the Sustainability journal for your contributions to this topic. This journal will serve as a deposit for papers that fit its scope, especially those concerning contemporary challenges related to sustainability in managing civil infrastructure systems, as well as integrated approaches to sustainable development in civil engineering.

As such, this Special Issue aims to highlight two aspects concerning civil infrastructure systems, namely sustainable assessment and risk analysis. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

life-cycle project assessment, digital-based management systems, risks in innovative solutions, complex life-cycle sustainability assessment, Big Data tools, artificial intelligence support for decision making, circular economy application to civil infrastructure and many more. Researchers interested in publishing their contributions related to these areas are invited to submit articles that aim to fill the gaps in the knowledge surrounding this topic. Moreover, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jarosław Górecki
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • civil engineering
  • risk assessment
  • construction project management
  • sustainability
  • circular economy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 1943 KiB  
Article
Sustainability Management Through the Assessment of Instability and Insecurity Risk Scenarios in Romania’s Energy Critical Infrastructures
by Dan Codruț Petrilean, Nicolae Daniel Fîță, Gabriel Dragoș Vasilescu, Mila Ilieva-Obretenova, Dorin Tataru, Emanuel Alin Cruceru, Ciprian Ionuț Mateiu, Aurelian Nicola, Doru-Costin Darabont, Alin-Marian Cazac and Costica Bejinariu
Sustainability 2025, 17(7), 2932; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17072932 - 26 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 603
Abstract
In the current context of sustainability management and energy insecurity, amplified by the military instability determined by the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the increasingly frequent occurrence of a series of plausible scenarios for disasters or energy blackouts worldwide, this work is [...] Read more.
In the current context of sustainability management and energy insecurity, amplified by the military instability determined by the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the increasingly frequent occurrence of a series of plausible scenarios for disasters or energy blackouts worldwide, this work is a real and applicable model for regional states that would like to critically analyze the situation of their energy security through identifying all the plausible risk scenarios targeting the energy critical infrastructures. The study has identified and assessed two of the most plausible risk scenarios (a natural disaster and a terrorist attack) in the case of a strategic power substation of 220 kV, 400 kV, or 750 kV undergoing a blackout effect. After having assessed the risks, the safety strategy for Romania’s national power system has been elaborated together with the safety strategy for the European Power system-ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity). The results of the study match other specialized works from different European countries and might represent a model for other types of energy safety risk assessments and for other types of critical infrastructures that are vital for the modern European society and for sustainability management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Assessment of Civil Infrastructure Systems and Risk Analysis)
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17 pages, 1083 KiB  
Article
Cost Performance Comparison of Road Construction Projects Considering Bidding Condition and Project Characteristics
by Kang-Wook Lee
Sustainability 2024, 16(22), 10083; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162210083 - 19 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2387
Abstract
Developing road infrastructure facilities is important because it directly affects national competitiveness and has significant socio-economic ripple effects throughout the country. However, road construction projects are vulnerable to various risks and prone to cost overruns because they are funded by large-scale national budgets [...] Read more.
Developing road infrastructure facilities is important because it directly affects national competitiveness and has significant socio-economic ripple effects throughout the country. However, road construction projects are vulnerable to various risks and prone to cost overruns because they are funded by large-scale national budgets and conducted over long time periods. Therefore, tracking the changes in construction costs from planning to completion and providing insights for similar future projects is essential for successful project planning and management. Considering the bidding conditions and project characteristics of road construction projects, this study comparatively analyzed the construction cost growth of 170 road construction projects based on the bid award rate and facility-specific project characteristics, such as construction type, contract method, facility capacity, and construction cost components. This study analyzed the differences in cost performance between various sample groups using non-parametric tests (Mann–Whitney U test and Kruskal–Wallis test), considering the non-normality of the collected sample. In addition, this study conducted multiple regression analysis to examine the causal relationship between all variables used in the analysis and cost performance and to identify critical factors. The results indicated that the construction cost growth of the group with a bid award rate of less than 70% was higher compared to that of other groups. Furthermore, the differences in construction cost growth based on project characteristics were more pronounced in the following groups: construction types (expansion/renovation and complex), contract method (long-term continuous), road length (≥7.5 km), % of bridge/tunnel length (<10%), construction cost (≤USD 100 mil.), % of direct construction cost (≥70%), and % of bridge/tunnel cost (both less and more than 50%). Furthermore, the regression model showed that % of direct construction cost, bid award rate, total road length, and contract method were shown to be critical factors in construction cost growth, which implies the importance of indirect cost management, PDS selection decisions that affect bid award rates, and risk management for complex projects from the perspective of construction cost growth management. These results empirically demonstrate that bidding conditions and project characteristics are key to understanding the pattern of construction cost growth in road construction projects. Hence, this study provides significant references that can be used by policy makers and clients to estimate cost buffers for future road projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Assessment of Civil Infrastructure Systems and Risk Analysis)
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