Design and operation of a multi-level post-disaster debris management system

Date

2025-8-26

Author

Çoban, Ayşe

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Disasters profoundly disrupt daily life and damage infrastructure, often generating massive volumes of waste, commonly referred to as debris, which must be managed swiftly to restore safety and daily functioning in affected areas. This study addresses the post-disaster debris management problem by modeling it as a three-level debris flow system, encompassing debris collection, separation, processing, and disposal activities. To address this problem, two distinct but structurally related multi-level models are proposed: (i) the Integrated Debris Management Model and (ii) the Hierarchical Debris Management Model. The second model is derived from the first by decomposing its integrated decision structure into separate levels, allowing for a more detailed and structured analysis of the debris management decisions. Both models are formulated as Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problems, providing a comprehensive framework for making strategic decisions (e.g., facility location and capacity design) and operational decisions (e.g., vehicle allocation and debris routing), aiming to minimize comprehensive costs, including financial, environmental, and psychosocial factors. The Hierarchical Debris Management Model further employs a regret-based robust network design model to handle uncertainty in debris volume and composition across multiple disaster scenarios, ensuring resilient outcomes. The proposed models are applied to a real-life case study involving the 2023 Maraş Earthquakes in Türkiye, demonstrating their practical relevance and highlighting the value of integrated, robust, and hierarchical decision-making in post-disaster debris management systems.

Subject Keywords

Recovery phase, Mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), Robust optimization, Hierarchical approach, 2023 Maraş earthquakes

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/116088

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis