ALARP approach for risk assessment of civil engineering projects

Abstract

Risk assessment is essential to express judgments of economic convenience on investment initiatives. This certainly applies to civil engineering projects, where the risk components are not only economic, but also environmental, social and cultural. Thus, the aim of the paper is to delineate a risk analysis model in the economic evaluation of investments through the development of algorithms where the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) logic is integrated with the ALARP principle. The latter provides operative tools ensuring that risk is tolerable if it is “As Low As Reasonably Practicable”. The study shows that the ALARP logic, widely applied in sectors such as nuclear, energy and oil & gas, but less implemented in civil engineering, can instead become an important investigative tool if used jointly with the CBA precisely in the evaluation economic of civil projects, contributing to the characterization of efficient forecast protocols. In the first paragraph of the paper, the steps necessary to manage the risk connected to a project initiative are described and the ALARP logic is analysed. The second paragraph presents the risk analysis approaches traditionally used in the economic evaluation of projects. In the third section the logical scheme of an innovative protocol for the management of project risk is defined, by integrating the ALARP principles in the procedural scheme of the CBA. In conclusion, prospects for future research are outlined.