BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

[EN] Achieving sustainability is currently one of the main objectives, so a consensus between different environmental, social, and economic aspects is necessary. The construction sector is one of the main sectors responsible for environmental impacts worldwide. This paper proposes the life cycle assessment (LCA) and comparison of four bridge deck alternatives for different span lengths to determine which ones are the most sustainable solutions. The ReCiPe method is used to conduct the life cycle analysis, by means of which the impact value is obtained for every alternative and span length. The Ecoinvent 3.3 database has been used. The life cycle has been divided into four phases: manufacturing, construction, use and maintenance, and end of life. The associated uncertainties are considered, and the results are shown in both midpoint and endpoint approaches. The results of our research show that for span lengths less than 17 m, the best alternative is the prestressed concrete solid slab. For span lengths between 17 and 25 m, since the box-girder solution is not used, then the prestressed concrete lightened slab is the best alternative. For span lengths between 25 and 40 m, the best solution depends on the percentage of recycled structural steel. If this percentage is greater than 90%, then the best alternative is the composite box-girder bridge deck. However, if the percentage is lower, the cleanest alternative is the prestressed concrete box-girder deck. Therefore, the results show the importance of recycling and reusing structural steel in bridge deck designs., This research was funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Business (Project: BIA201785098-R), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project: PID2020-117056RB-I00), along with FEDER funding and Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for David MartinezMunoz's University Teacher Training Grant (FPU-18/01592).

[EN] Competition among companies is growing globally, with the need to increase productivity and efficiency in the product sector. However, there is also a growing concern about global warming and the depletion of natural resources, as well as their effects on human health. In this context, all human activities that involve intense usage of resources must take into account sustainability as one of the decision criteria. This work presents the application of decision-making methods to define the best product mix in the agricultural machinery industry. With this objective, the current schedule of the production line was identified, along with the production flow, by performing an inventory analysis and an environmental impact study (endpoint). A total of seven alternatives for the production mix of grain trailers were defined, considering different materials and production processes. The selection of the best schedule according to the different criteria was performed through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the managerial implications for decision making. The results obtained through AHP identified a single alternative as being the best, which facilitates the decision making. The DEA method identified two alternatives as the most efficient, and in this case the manager can choose between a product mix that generates lesser environmental impact or greater profitability. Although applied to agricultural industry, the presented methodology can be easily adapted to other activities related to the built environment, such as construction industry., The authors acknowledge the financial support the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project: PID2020-117056RB-I00), along with FEDER funding to the second author, and the financial support of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) to the last author.

[EN] The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Industry is one of the most important productive sectors, hence also produce a high impact on the economic balances, societal stability, and global challenges in climate change. Regarding its adoption of technologies, applications and processes is also recognized by its status-quo, its slow innovation pace, and the conservative approaches. However, a new technological era - Industry 4.0 fueled by AI- is driving productive sectors in a highly pressurized global technological competition and sociopolitical landscape. In this paper, we develop an adaptive approach to mining text content in the literature research corpus related to the AEC and AI (AEC-AI) industries, in particular on its relation to technological processes and applications. We present a rst stage approach to an adaptive assessment of AI algorithms, to form an integrative AI platform in the AEC industry, the AEC-AI industry 4.0. At this stage, a macroscopic adaptive method is deployed to characterize ``Optimization,'' a key term in AEC-AI industry, using a mixed methodology incorporating machine learning and classical evaluation process. Our results show that effective use of metadata, constrained search queries, and domain knowledge allows getting a macroscopic assessment of the target concept. This allows the extraction of a high-level mapping and conceptual structure characterization of the literature corpus. The results are comparable, at this level, to classical methodologies for the literature review. In addition, our method is designed for an adaptive assessment to incorporate further stages., This work was supported by the CONICYT/FONDECYT/INICIACION under Grant 11180056 to Jose Garcia and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the FEDER Funding under Project PID2020-117056RB-I00 to Victor Yepes.

[EN] Marinas are known to be features related to nautical tourism. Nevertheless, the responsibility of managers does not lie solely on providing accurate services to boats, seafarers and visitors. Thus, an effective management should include other factors, because marinas are embodied in a singular space, with links to diverse nature. Landscape, known as the relationship between people and their environment, represents a set of these links. In this paper, we attempt to delve into the marina management and landscape. Firstly, a targeted exploration of the main issues related to the management of marinas was accomplished. Secondly, based on the previous items, a screening was carried out from a landscape viewpoint with the aim to stablish which elements of marina's management are significant when tackling landscape. The results indicated that there is a concern with environmental aspects, specifically, on issues related to marine pollution and water quality. However, the determination of the main management-related issues, valued from a landscape perspective, may provide the main issues that need to be addressed in decision-making processes, incorporating the landscape dimension. Thus, we have attempted to understand and discuss how the landscape should be considered in marina management as a potential competitive advantage., The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project: PID2020-117056RB-I00), along with FEDER funding.

[EN] In Latin America, there is a wide gap between kilometers of paved ways and those with no type of protection. This situation is worse in rural areas, limiting development opportunities and inhabitants' quality of life. In Chile, there are state programs that seek to reduce the territorial gap through basic low-cost paving solutions; however, the prioritization criteria for rural roads are unclear. Multiple actors affect the rural territories, and the non-existence of reference patterns increases subjectivity in infrastructure decision making. This study attempts to determine criteria that influence the selection of rural roads in southern Chile to promote sustainable territorial development considering multiple actors and the uncertainty of the selection process. For this, a documentary review, field visits, and 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The criteria are validated through a multidisciplinary panel of experts and the application of neutrosophic numbers to address the uncertainty derived from the expert consultations. The results of this study contribute 14 sustainable criteria in order to support the planning of basic rural roads in southern Chile., This research was funded by Agencia Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo (ANID) of the Government of Chile under the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cientifico y Tecnologico (FONDECYT-INI), grant number 11190501; and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the FEDER Funding under Project PID2020-117056RB-I00.

[EN] The construction sector represents more than 40% of energy consumption in the European Union, as well as one of the biggest causes of environmental impact. Therefore, this sector needs a great deal of intervention through policies that promote the energetic efficiency of the buildings. One of the most important structural components to reach this energetic efficiency is the facades. In this work, the facade ventilated is chosen due to its better thermal insulation behaviour. The environmental impact of the facade ventilated depends on the thermal insulation material. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the environmental impact of different ventilated facades according to their thermal insulation behavior. For this purpose, the life-cycle assessment is applied in ventilated facades with different materials in different locations. The materials studied are the rock wool, the natural cork and the recycled cork, and the locations considered are the different climatic areas of Spain. To reach a complete environmental assessment all the ventilated facades life-cycle is considered, from cradle to grave. To do this we use the Open LCA software with the Ecoinvent database with the ReCiPe method. The results show that the recycled cork is the thermal insulation with the lowest environmental impact regardless the location., The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Business (Project: BIA2017-85098-R) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project: PID2020-117056RB-I00), along with FEDER funding. In addition would also acknowledge the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for David Martinez-Munoz University Teacher Training Grant (FPU-18/01592).

[EN] The aim of this paper is to establish an international framework for sustainable project management in engineering, to make up the lack of research in this field, and to propose a scientific theoretical basis for the establishment of a new project management system. The article adopts literature review, mathematical programming algorithm and case study as the research method. The literature review applied the visual clustering research method and analyzed the results of 21-year research in this field. As a result, the project management system was found to have defects and deficiencies. A mathematical model was established to analyze the composition and elements of the optimized international project management system. The case study research selected large bridges for analysis and verified the superiority and practicability of the theoretical system. Thus, the goal of sustainable development of bridges was achieved. The value of this re-search lies in establishing a comprehensive international project management system model; truly integrating sustainable development with project management; providing new research frames and management models to promote the sustainable development of the construction industry., This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, along with FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional), project grant number: PID2020-117056RB-I00.

[EN] In this work, we study the potential of using kriging metamodelling to perform multi-objective structural design optimization using finite element analysis software and design standards while keeping the computational efforts low. A method is proposed, which includes sustainability and buildability objectives, and it is applied to a case study of reinforced concrete foundations for wind turbines based on data from a large Swedish wind farm project. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to investigate the influence of the penalty factor applied to unfeasible solutions and the size of the initial sample generated by Latin hypercube sampling. A multi-objective optimization is then performed to obtain the optimum designs for different weight combinations for the four objectives considered. Results show that the kriging-obtained designs from samples of 20 designs outperform the best designs in the samples of 1000 designs. The optimum designs obtained by the proposed method have a sustainability impact 8¿15% lower than the designs developed by traditional methods., Open access funding provided by Chalmers University of Technology. This work was fnancially supported by Sweden's Innovation Agency (Grant Number: 2017-03312), the
Swedish Transport Administration (Grant Number: BBT-2017-
037), the Swedish Wind Power Technology Centre (SWPTC),
NCC, and Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/
10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe.

[EN] Knowledge management in the construction industry has become an element of transition between traditional processes and the current needs demanded by technological change. This research reviews the updated scientific contributions of knowledge management in construction, as well as its influence. The results come from a bibliometric study, elaborating a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the current state. The research method was divided into the following stages: preliminary approach to the bibliography, establishment of search strategies, selection and classification of articles, quantitative analysis and discussion of relevant articles. Three main factors were identified: use and exploitation of knowledge, knowledge transfer, and information technologies; five complementary facets were also identified: culture, innovation, quality, knowledge generation and human factors. The results reaffirm the importance of the use and exploitation of knowledge, in addition to increasing attention to the transfer and technology of information. However, the generation of knowledge has declined because the sector still does not report the results of applying knowledge, and this underlines the need for the future study of strategies to transform tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe".

[EN] Since the establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals, great concern has arisen on how to diminish the impacts that result from construction activities. In such context, Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) rise as a powerful way to reduce life cycle impacts through optimizing the consumption of materials. This paper focuses on the sustainability assessment of different modern construction techniques applied to concrete structures of single-family houses. The life cycle performance in terms of sustainability is compared between a conventional reference design, a precast design, a lightweight slab design with pressurized hollow discs, and a design based on double-wall structural elements. The sustainability is assessed through a set of 38 indicators that address not only the economic and environmental response of the designs, but also their social impacts as well. Five of the best known Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) techniques (SAW, COPRAS, TOPSIS, VIKOR and MIVES) are applied to derive the life-cycle performance of each design into a single sustainability score. Since there is no consensus on which MCDM method works best in sustainability assessments, a Global Structural Sustainability Index (GSSI) combining and weighting the above is proposed here to aid the analysis of the results obtained. The results show that consideration of the three dimensions of sustainability leads to balanced designs whose preference need not coincide with those derived from each one-dimensional life cycle approach., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ¿ERDF A way of making Europe¿. The authors would also like to thank the companies that provided some of the data and information necessary for this study (Plataforma Logística YTONG Sur BigMat Multipio; PRENOVA global; and ELESDOPA International)

[EN] Considering the importance of the development of new housing projects, the purpose of this research is to provide a model oriented to the identification of the most sustainable alternative in single-family housing projects of social interest from the perspective of life cycle thinking (LCT) and the analytical hierarchical process (AHP). A ceramic masonry project and a concrete masonry project were evaluated. In the environmental dimension, the results showed that the ceramic masonry project had more significant environmental impacts and greater damage to human health and the availability of resources and ecosystems. In the social dimension, it was found that there are discrepancies between the salaries in the construction supply chain and that the concrete masonry project had better social characteristics than the ceramic masonry project. The economic dimension revealed that the concrete masonry project was more attractive. Relating the environmental, social, and economic dimensions¿ results, through the combination of LCT and AHP, it was found that the concrete masonry project presented a combination of more sustainable characteristics than the ceramic masonry project in the majority of the results. Among the implications of the study carried out here is the advancement of sustainability applied to the construction sector., The authors received funding through grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe"; the University of Passo Fundo; and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Grant CNPq306578/2020-4).

[EN] This paper deals with optimizing embedded carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using surrogate modeling, whether it is the deck of a post-tensioned cast-in-place concrete slab bridge or any other design structure. The main contribution of this proposal is that it allows optimizing structures methodically and sequentially. The approach presents two sequential phases of optimization, the first one of diversification and the second one of intensification of the search for optimums. Finally, with the amount of CO2 emissions and the differentiating characteristics of each design, a heuristic optimization based on a Kriging metamodel is performed. An optimized solution with lower emissions than the analyzed sample is obtained. If CO2 emissions were to be reduced, design recommendations would be to use slendernesses as high as possible, in the range of 1/30, which implies a more significant amount of passive reinforcement. This increase in passive reinforcement is compensated by reducing the measurement of concrete and active reinforcement. Another important conclusion is that reducing emissions is related to cost savings. Furthermore, it has been corroborated that for a cost increase of less than 1%, decreases in emissions emitted into the atmosphere of more than 2% can be achieved., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe".

[EN] Since establishing the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the assessment of the sustainability performance of existing and future infrastructures has been in the spotlight of the scientific community. This is because the construction sector is essential for promoting the social welfare and economic development of countries, but is also one of the main environmental stressors existing to date. However, assessing infrastructure sustainability throughout its life cycle remains a significant challenge, as the criteria involved in sustainable design are often complex and conflicting. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) is recognized as a powerful decision-making tool to model such problems. Here, the life cycle sustainability performance of different design alternatives for a concrete bridge near the shore is evaluated using ANP. The obtained results are compared with those obtained using the conventional Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results obtained using ANP are more reliable than those derived from the conventional AHP in terms of the expert¿s consistency and the number of comparisons made., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe".

[EN] The definition of sustainability includes three fundamental pillars: economic, environmental, and social. Studies of the economic impact on civil engineering infrastructures have been focused on cost reduction. It is not necessarily in line with economic sustainability due to the lack of other economic factors. Moreover, the social pillar assessment has been weakly developed compared to the economic and the environmental ones. It is essential to focus on the social pillar and evaluate clear indicators that allow researchers to compare alternatives. Furthermore, bridge life cycle assessment studies have been focused on concrete options. This has resulted in a lack of analysis of the impact of composite bridge alternatives. This study is conducted in two stages. The first part of the study makes a cradle-to-grave social and environmental sustainability evaluation with the SOCA v2 and ecoinvent v3.7.1 databases. This assessment is carried out on four concrete and composite bridge alternatives with span lengths between 15 and 40 m. The social impact weighting method and recipe have been used to obtain the social and environmental indicators. The second part of the study compares the results obtained from the social and environmental assessment of the concrete and the composite alternatives varying the steel recycling rate. The bridge alternatives are prestressed concrete solid slab, prestressed concrete lightened slab, prestressed concrete box-girder, and steel¿concrete composite box-girder. The results show that composite options are the best for environmental impact, but the concrete box girder solutions are better for social impact. Furthermore, an increase in the steel recycling rate increases the social impact and decreases the environmental one., This research was funded by: Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded byMCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe". Grant FPU-18/01592 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ESF invests in your future".

[EN] The analytic network process (ANP) is a discrete multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method conceived as a generalization of the traditional analytic hierarchical process (AHP) to address its limitations. ANP allows the incorporation of interdependence and feedback relationships between the criteria and alternatives that make up the system. This implies much more complexity and intervention time, which reduces the expert¿s ability to make accurate and consistent judgments. The present paper takes advantage of the usefulness of this methodology by formulating the model for exclusively quantitative variables, simplifying the decision problem by resulting in fewer paired comparisons. Seven sustainability-related criteria are used to determine, among four design alternatives for a building structure, which is the most sustainable over its life cycle. The results reveal that the number of questions required by the conventional AHP is reduced by 92%. The weights obtained between the AHP and ANP groups show significant variations of up to 71% in the relative standard deviation of some criteria. This sensitivity to subjectivity has been implemented by combining the ANP-ELECTRE IS methods, allowing the expert to reflect the view of the decision problem with greater flexibility and accuracy. The sensitivity of the results on different methods has been analyzed., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe".

[EN] This paper describes a regional optimal model curve equation to measure and calculate sustainable development assessment impact data related to infrastructure construction in any world region. The article uses a literature review and a case study as research methods¿the literature review analyses the importance, practical significance, and current research status of this field. The case study application establishes a scientific algorithm program and a three-dimensional structural topology optimization interactive environment research model. The optimality of the influence equation curve and the sustainable development influence curve of China¿s large-scale cable-stayed bridges and regional infrastructure is analysed. This research will fill a gap by solving construction industries¿ tedious and complicated work and sustainable development assessment. Simultaneously, it will provide a theoretical basis and scientific calculation methods for governments and countries to formulate relevant laws and regulations and study regional climate effects., The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the following research projects: Grant PID2020-117056RB-100 founded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by 'ERDF A way of making Europe'. The authors thank Dr. Debra Westall (UPV) for revising the manuscript for publication.

[EN] This paper represents new approaches for calculating, designing, and optimizing prestressed arched trusses with a tie member. Structural systems with long spans, such as trusses, beams, frames, etc., are subjected to a considerable/substantial risk of losing load-carrying capacity because of the different types of loads used. Some traditional design methods define the values of prestressing force in the tie member and internal forces in the truss elements to avoid this load capacity loss. However, the accuracy and limits of the determination of the forces are not necessarily known. The authors offer a new type of prestressed arched truss and some new approaches in the design and calculation process to solve these disadvantages. The study¿s main objectives were to design an innovative and new geometric form of prestressed arched truss, which allows the development of high-value prestressing force, to optimize a new truss for reducing self-weight, increasing load-carrying capacity compared to its analogs. The force, stiffness matrix, and simulated annealing methods were used during the study. A new advance to the optimization of prestressed arched truss suggested by the authors reduces the self-weight and improves the load capacity of the truss by 8¿17%, depending on the span., This research was funded by the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Project Electra: Enhancing Learning in ENPI Countries through Clean Technologies and Research related Activities (project: ELEC1400294),
Erasmus+ program InnoCENS-Enhancing innovation competences and entrepreneurial skills in engineering education (project: 573965-EPP-1-2016-1-SE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP). Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00
funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe.

[EN] Marinas are maritime features related to nautical tourism. The contemplation of pleasant surroundings acquires great importance in achieving this leisure character. The European Landscape Convention undertakes the necessity of integrating landscape into the planning policies. Thus, the marina¿s management decision-making processes should reflect this awareness of the landscape. However, the landscape evaluation has not been appropriately considered despite its importance. This research attempts to introduce an initial framework to evaluate this influence, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the different subjects. For this purpose, the most significant elements of the marina management related to the landscape were rated, both from management and landscape perspectives. Two expert panels from Spain were used: 23 experts evaluated the above elements following the Delphi method, and 17 weighted the main management activities using DHP. Results show that there is a lack of concern for the landscape. Managers tend to consider physical conditions, whereas subjective conditions are relegated to the background. In this respect, this methodology provides the first stage for the landscape/management relationship, helping managers identify the main topics and prioritize related actions., This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación grant number PID2020-117056RB-I00

[EN] Assigning a monetary value to a landscape improves its importance. It helps to realize the magnitude of the benefits that can be obtained and represents the basis for applying protection and improvement policies. As a case study, we considered Marina del Este, located on the Spanish Southern Mediterranean coast, characterized by the presence of protected natural areas of great value and a rugged coastline beautiful to sailors. This study applies the analytic multicriteria valuation method (AMUVAN) to estimate the landscape¿s economic contribution. This method combines the analytic hierarchy process and discounted cash flow analysis. A total of 16 participants were considered, all with knowledge about the marina, which included areas of the marina management, management organizations with competencies in the marina environment, commercial operation, and university professors. They weighted the importance of landscape concerning the rest of the marina activities, use versus non-use values, and the components of the total economic value (TEV) of the landscape within marinas as a natural asset. Results expressed that the landscape may reach a value of around 16.3 million euros. It represents more than 3000% of the value of the marina¿s profit and loss account. A detailed analysis of the components of the TEV makes it possible to propose strategies to improve the economic value of the landscape., This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación grant number PID2020-117056RB-100

[EN] Complex industrial problems coupled with the availability of a more robust computing infrastructure present many challenges and opportunities for machine learning (ML) in the construction industry. This paper reviews the ML techniques applied to the construction industry, mainly to identify areas of application and future projection in this industry. Studies from 2015 to 2022 were analyzed to assess the latest applications of ML techniques in construction. A methodology was proposed that automatically identifies topics through the analysis of abstracts using the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers technique to select main topics manually subsequently. Relevant categories of machine learning applications in construction were identified and analyzed, including applications in concrete technology, retaining wall design, pavement engineering, tunneling, and construction management. Multiple techniques were discussed, including various supervised, deep, and evolutionary ML algorithms. This review study provides future guidelines to researchers regarding ML applications in construction., The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the following research projects:
Jose Garcia was supported by the Grant CONICYT/FONDECYT/INICIACION/, Chile 11180056.
Jose Garcia and Vinicius Minatogawa was supported by PROYECTODI INVESTIGACION INNOVADORA INTERDISCIPLINARIA, Chile:039.414/2021.
Victor Yepes was supported by Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/, Spain 10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe''.
Francisco Altimiras was supported by the INF-PUCV Scholarship,Chile.
Broderick Crawford is supported by Grant CONICYT/FONDECYT/REGULAR/1210810, Chile.

[EN] Composite bridge optimization might be challenging because of the significant number of variables involved in the problem. The optimization of a box-girder steel¿concrete composite bridge was done in this study with cost and emissions as objective functions. Given this challenge, this study proposes a hybrid algorithm that integrates the unsupervised learning technique of k-means with continuous swarm intelligence metaheuristics to strengthen the latter¿s performance. In particular, the metaheuristics sine-cosine and cuckoo search are discretized. The contribution of the k-means operator regarding the quality of the solutions obtained is studied. First, random operators are designed to use transfer functions later to evaluate and compare the performances. Additionally, to have another point of comparison, a version of simulated annealing was adapted, which has solved related optimization problems efficiently. The results show that our hybrid proposal outperforms the different algorithms designed., The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the
following research projects: Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/
501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe. Grant FPU-18/01592 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF invests in your future, Grant CONICYT/FONDECYT/INICIACION/11180056

[EN] This paper deals with the seismic column design of 35 elevated RC water storage tanks. Tanks comprise a top conic trunk reservoir, a column with variable hollow square cross-sections, and a shallow foundation on a sand layer. The five-column heights considered are 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 m. The five tanks are subjected to seven degrees of seismic loading characterized by the reference peak ground acceleration in Eurocode 8. The elevated tanks are designed against the full prescriptions of Eurocode 2, Eurocode 8, and the Spaniard Structural Code of Practice. This includes variable loads for seismicity, wind, snow, etc., together with the action of self-weight and dead loads. The optimization design method considered is a variant of the old bachelor algorithm, an adaptive threshold acceptance method with a neighborhood move based on the mutation operator from genetic algorithms. Column results show the high nonlinearity of the problem since the horizontal seismic forces depend on the rigidity and height of the columns. The main features of the optimized tanks give guidance for the practical design of this kind of elevated RC water tank., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe".

[EN] To reduce the pollution emissions of bridges to the environment, researchers need to conduct more in-depth research and design the structure. Today's architectural, structural, and mechanical engineers pay more attention to funders' requirements and pursue the maximization of economic benefits. The research begins with establishing a theoretical model of the bridge's robustness under dead and dynamic loads: applying a Three-Dimensional (3D) solid finite element model, swarm intelligence optimization algorithm, and mathematical model of quadratic interpolation approximation solves the problems of multiple loads, discrete data, and convergence. Based on the establishment and analysis data of the research model, the research and analysis of the optimal topology bridge model are completed, and the optimal structure size is obtained. The carbon emissions from the bridge optimization decreased by 2242.92 t, accounting for 25% of the total emissions. This data is shocking, and it also gives investors and governments a painful reminder that they must pay more attention to the sustainable construction and development of the construction industry and achieve the goal of zero carbon emissions in the construction industry as soon as possible., The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the following research projects: Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe"

[EN] Bridge optimization can be complex because of the large number of variables involved in the problem. In this paper, two box-girder steel¿concrete composite bridge single objective optimizations have been carried out considering cost and CO¿ emissions as objective functions. Taking CO¿ emissions as an objective function allows adding sustainable criteria to compare the results with cost. SAMO2, SCA, and Jaya metaheuristics have been applied to reach this goal. Transfer functions have been implemented to fit SCA and Jaya to the discontinuous nature of the bridge optimization problem. Furthermore, a Design of Experiments has been conducted to tune the algorithm and set its parameters. Consequently, it has been observed that SCA shows similar values for objective cost function as SAMO2 but improves computational time by 18% while also getting lower values for the objective function result deviation. From a cost and CO¿ optimization analysis, it has been observed that a reduction of 2.51 kg CO¿ is obtained by each euro reduced using metaheuristic techniques. Moreover, for both optimization objectives, it is observed that adding cells to bridge cross-sections improves not only the section behavior but also the optimization results. Finally, it is observed that the proposed design of double composite action in the supports allows this study to remove continuous longitudinal stiffeners in the bottom flange., Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This research has been made possible thanks to funding received from the following research projects: Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe", Grant FPU-18/01592 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ESF invests in your future" and Grant CONICYT/FONDECYT/INICIACION/11180056.

[EN] The soil is not always suitable or competent to support a direct shallow foundation in construction. In many cases, to avoid costly deep foundations, it is indicated to replace, improve, or reinforce such soil. This paper focuses on evaluating the contribution to sustainability between different soil improvement techniques and the outcome of their application to the foundation of a single-family house as an alternative to the one built. The life-cycle performance in sustainability is compared between the baseline design (without intervention), backfilling and soil compaction, soil-cement columns, rigid inclusion of micropiles, and nailing of precast joists. To characterize sustainability, a set of 37 indicators is proposed that integrate the economic or environmental aspects of each design alternative and its social impacts. A sustainability ranking is obtained for the different alternatives based on the ELECTRE IS method for multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). The sensitivity of the obtained results is evaluated against different MCDM methods (TOPSIS, COPRAS) and different criteria weights. The evaluation provides a cross-cutting view, comparing the ability and reliability of each technique to prioritize the ground consolidation solution that best contributes to the sustainability in the design of a building's substructure., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe". The authors would also like to thank Jose Fernando Moreno Serrano (co-director of the company "Alto Almanzora Geological Consulting") for providing some of the data and geotechnical information needed for this study.

[EN] Railways are an efficient transportmode, but building and maintaining railway tracks has a significant environmental impact in terms of CO2 emissions and use of raw materials. This is particularly true for slab tracks, which require large quantities of concrete. They are also more
expensive to build than conventional ballasted tracks, but require less maintenance and have other advantages that make them a good alternative, especially for high-speed lines. To contribute to more sustainable railways, this paper aims to optimize the design of one of the most common slab track typologies: RHEDA 2000. The main objective is to reduce the amount of concrete required to build the slab without compromising its performance and durability. To do so, a model based on finite-element method (FEM) of the track was used, paired with a kriging metamodel to allow analyzing multiple options of slab thickness and concrete strength in a timely manner. By means of kriging, optimal solutions were obtained and then validated through the FEM model to ensure that predefined mechanical and geometrical constraints were met. Starting from an initial setup with a 30-cm slab made of concrete with a characteristic strength of 40 MPa, an optimized solution was reached, consisting of a 24-cm slab made of concrete with a strength of 45 MPa, which yields a cost reduction of 17.5%. This process may be now applied to other slab typologies to obtain more sustainable designs., The authors wish to thank Joaquin J. Pons for his work, which was extremely helpful in the development of this paper. This project was supported by Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF Away of making Europe."

[EN] Since the Paris Agreement was established, great interest has arisen in evaluating the sustainability performance of our structures along with their life cycles. The remarkable economic expenses, the important environmental impacts associated with the construction sector, and the great social benefits that might be derived from a well-designed infrastructure system have put the design of essential infrastructures in the spotlight of many researchers. One of today¿s main challenges is the derivation of adequate sustainability indicators that aid designers when deciding on the most sustainable design alternative. The sustainability performance of infrastructures is based on various indicators that are often conflicting given their different nature. Consequently, the obtention of such indicators usually needs to be addressed using multi-criteria decision-making methods. The present communication shows the analytic hierarchy process (ANP) for the sustainability assessment of a concrete bridge exposed to a coastal environment, involving several decision-makers. A set of nine quantitative criteria, covering the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability, has been considered here., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe.

[EN] Recent catastrophic events have aroused great interest in the scientific community regarding the evaluation and prediction of the structural response along the life cycle of infrastructures. Efforts are put into developing adequate health monitoring systems to help prevent future human life and economic losses. Here, two non-destructive damage detection methods are presented: the Frequency Response Function-based and the Spectral Density Function-based methods. The damage detection performance of both methods is compared through a particular case study, where different damage scenarios are analyzed in a 2D truss bridge. The reliability of each method is studied in terms of different prediction errors. Numerical results show that the PSD method for damage detection on a steel truss bridge structure provides more accurate and robust results when compared to that based on FRF., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe.

[EN] Human beings are now facing the increasingly urgent problem of global ecological environment pollution. To verify the scientific nature of environmental governance by governments of various countries, researchers need to provide a scientific basis and practical support for governments to adjust and formulate new policies and regulatory measures at any time through data analysis. This paper applies visual literature, aggregate analysis, engineering data programming, advanced mathematical science algorithms, and innovation entropy theory, and through this study obtains sustainable impact data from eight Chinese provinces in the 21st century, including environmental, economic, and social impacts. The results show that China¿s sustainable data should grow from 2021 to about 2044. After 2045, it will be stable, and there will be negative growth in a short period. The overall life cycle assessment (LCA) and social impact assessment (SIA) continue to remain in the positive range. There will be no negative growth in aggregate data and zero or negative emissions before 2108. The final research data are accurately presented in the form of annual emissions, which provide a scientific and theoretical basis for the government to formulate medium- and long-term ecological regulations and plans., This research was funded by the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project: PID2020-117056RB-100), along with FEDER funding

[EN] Reinforced concrete precast hinged frames are commonly used in transportation infrastructure. Advances in
optimization techniques lead to improvements in the traditional structural design process. These allow for
minimizing factors such as the final cost of the structure. The present study developed the economic optimization
of a reinforced concrete precast hinged frame. In order to do so, the hybrid metaheuristic technique of simulated
annealing with a mutation operator was applied. The algorithm parameters were tuned by means of a factorial
Design of Experiments. This allowed the algorithm to show excellent performance. Once tuned, the hybrid
metaheuristic was applied, achieving designs with reduced final costs. Finally, a series of main characteristics
are mentioned. The designs present reduced depths and considerably dense passive reinforcement designs. The
results obtained position the precast structure as a particularly interesting alternative to similar cast in place
structures, [ES] Los marcos articulados prefabricados de hormigón armado son una estructura de uso común en las redes de carreteras. Los avances en las técnicas de optimización permiten mejorar el proceso de diseño tradicional, consiguiendo minimizar factores como el coste final de la estructura. El estudio llevó a cabo la optimización económica de un marco articulado prefabricado de hormigón armado mediante la técnica metaheurística híbrida de recocido simulado con operador de mutación. Los parámetros del algoritmo fueron calibrados mediante un diseño de experimentos factorial, consiguiendo que el algoritmo tuviera un muy buen rendimiento. Tras su calibración, la metaheurística híbrida fue aplicada, consiguiendo diseños con costes finales reducidos. Finalmente, se mencionan una serie de características principales de los marcos óptimos, pudiendo destacar diseños esbeltos con densidades de armado elevadas. Los resultados sitúan la tipología estructural considerada como una alternativa especialmente interesante frente a las estructuras ejecutadas in situ., Los autores agradecen la financiación del proyecto PID2020-117056RB-I00 financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MCIN / AEI / 10.13039 / 501100011033 y por "FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa".

[EN] Sustainable development requires improvements in the use of natural resources. The main objective of the present study was to optimize the use of materials in the construction of reinforced concrete precast hinged frames. Proprietary software was developed in the Python programming language. This allowed the structure¿s calculation, verification and optimization through the application of metaheuristic techniques. The final cost is a direct representation of the use of materials. Thus, three algorithms were applied to solve the economic optimization of the frame. By applying simulated annealing, threshold accepting and old bachelor¿s acceptance algorithms, sustainable, non-traditional designs were achieved. These make optimal use of natural resources while maintaining a highly restricted final cost. In order to evaluate the environmental impact improvement, the carbon-dioxide-associated emissions were studied and compared with a reference cast-in-place reinforced concrete frame. The results showed designs with reduced upper slab and lateral wall depth and dense passive reinforcement. These were able to reduce up to 24% of the final cost of the structure as well as over 30% of the associated emissions., The authors acknowledge the financial support of Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00
funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe"

[EN] Bridge optimization is a significant challenge, given the huge number of possible configurations of the problem. Embodied energy and cost were taken as objective functions for a box-girder steel¿concrete optimization problem considering both as single-objective. Embodied energy was chosen as a sustainable criterion to compare the results with cost. The stochastic global search TAMO algorithm, the swarm intelligence cuckoo search (CS), and sine cosine algorithms (SCA) were used to achieve this goal. To allow the SCA and SC techniques to solve the discrete bridge optimization problem, the discretization technique applying the k-means clustering technique was used. As a result, SC was found to produce objective energy function values comparable to TAMO while reducing the computation time by 25.79%. In addition, the cost optimization and embodied energy analysis revealed that each euro saved using metaheuristic methodologies decreased the energy consumption for this optimization problem by 0.584 kW·h. Additionally, by including cells in the upper and lower parts of the webs, the behavior of the section was improved, as were the optimization outcomes for the two optimization objectives. This study concludes that double composite action design on supports makes the continuous longitudinal stiffeners in the bottom flange unnecessary., The author gratefully acknowledge the fundings received by: Grant PID2020-
117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ¿ERDF A way of making
Europe¿. Grant FPU-18/01592 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ¿ESF invests
in your future¿ and Grant CONICYT/FONDECYT/INICIACION/11180056

[EN] This paper deals with optimizing embedded carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using metamodeling, whether it is the deck of a lightened post-tensioned slab bridge or any other design structure. The main contribution of this proposal is that it allows optimizing structures methodically and sequentially. The proposed methodology is general and can optimize any structure with different objective functions. The approach presents two sequential phases of optimization, the first one of diversification and the second one of intensification of the search for optimums. Specifically, the type of concrete used, the amount of active and passive steel, the lightweight volume, and the area of formwork used. Finally, with the amount of CO2 emissions and the differentiating characteristics of each design, a heuristic optimization based on a Kriging metamodel is performed. An optimized solution with lower emissions than the analyzed sample is obtained. If CO2 emissions were to be reduced, design recommendations would be to use slendernesses as high as possible, in the range of 1/30, which implies a more significant amount of passive reinforcement. This increase in passive reinforcement is compensated by reducing the amount of concrete and active reinforcement. Another important conclusion is that reducing emissions is related to cost savings. Therefore, optimizing the cost would be sufficient to reduce the environmental aspects. Furthermore, it has been corroborated that for a cost increase of less than 1 %, reductions for emissions emitted into the atmosphere of more than 2 % can be achieved., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe.

[EN] Landscape values are related to the attributes that people assign to a perceived landscape. They reflect marina user perceptions, thus representing a feedback tool for marina managers to use to verify the degree of user satisfaction. This study focused on identifying and assessing a marina¿s landscape values. We took Marina del Este (Granada, Spain) as a case study. We considered interviews and a questionnaire to devise methods to enhance the participation of stakeholders and users. First, the SWOT analysis from stakeholder interviews enabled us to collect management¿s perceptions. Second, the survey gathered the marina¿s landscape values, comprising 104 respondents from visitors and users. ANOVA and PCA methods were applied to check the suitability of the values. The results showed that the marina should be in keeping with an atmosphere of tranquility and well-being. Nevertheless, there was a need to improve values related to nautical tourism, such as hospitality and maintenance, dealing with the lack of space and an excess of urbanization in the surroundings. Marina managers should consider these outcomes and analyze the points of improvement to establish the causes of these disagreements and propose solutions for the established management model. The perception of stakeholders and users can enable more consensual policies with greater levels of acceptance and involvement., This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación grant number PID2020-117056RB-I00.

[EN] This paper addresses a study of cost-optimal road modular hinged frames. The performance of three hybrid metaheuristics is assessed through a fractional factorial design of experiments. The results allow for selecting and calibrating the hybrid simulated annealing to solve the combinatorial optimization problem. By varying the horizontal span from 8 to 16 meters and the earth cover from 1 to 5 meters, 25 different structural configurations are studied. The calibrated methodology is applied to obtain nine different frames with optimal costs for each configuration. The study of the economic, environmental and geometrical characteristics of the 225 optimum structures allows for the development of a regression analysis. With R2 correlation coefficients close to the unit, the expressions form a valuable tool for calculating the final cost, associated emissions, embodied energy and particular geometric characteristics. The optimum structures present slender and densely reinforced designs. In addition, some structures show considerable reductions in the shear reinforcement, something solved by localized increases in longitudinal reinforcement., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by
¿ERDF A way of making Europe¿.

[EN] The deterioration caused by chloride penetration and carbonation plays a significant role in a concrete structure in a marine environment. The chloride corrosion in some marine concrete structures is invisible but can be dangerous in a sudden collapse. Therefore, as a novelty, this research investigates the ability of a non-destructive damage detection method named the Power Spectral Density (PSD) to diagnose damages caused only by chloride ions in concrete structures. Furthermore, the accuracy of this method in estimating the amount of annual damage caused by chloride in various parts and positions exposed to seawater was investigated. For this purpose, the RC Arosa bridge in Spain, which connects the island to the mainland via seawater, was numerically modeled and analyzed. As the first step, each element's bridge position was calculated, along with the chloride corrosion percentage in the reinforcements. The next step predicted the existence, location, and timing of damage to the entire concrete part of the bridge based on the amount of rebar corrosion each year. The PSD method was used to monitor the annual loss of reinforcement cross-section area, changes in dynamic characteristics such as stiffness and mass, and each year of the bridge structure's life using sensitivity equations and the linear least squares algorithm. This study showed that using different approaches to the PSD method based on rebar chloride corrosion and assuming 10% errors in software analysis can help predict the location and almost exact amount of damage zones over time., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe"

[EN] The capability to share knowledge is considered one of the most relevant components of knowledge management. Moreover, there is little empirical evidence indicating how future human resources in the construction industry value the richness of knowledge sharing and the richness of their innovative behavior. The purposes of this study are (1) to determine which facilitators, from the point of view of master¿s degree students related to engineering and construction management in Spain, most substantially influence knowledge sharing capability; (2) to test whether knowledge sharing capability (KS) positively influences innovative behavior (IB); and (3) demonstrating whether organizational innovation climate (OIC) is a factor that moderates the relationship between KS and IB. In this research, we have proposed a theoretical model and empirically tested the model in a sample of 253 master¿s degree students in public universities in Spain. The findings support the proposed model, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) evaluation suggests that, among all the facilitators of KS, information and communication technologies (ICT) stand out among the other facilitators and have a more significant influence on KS. Furthermore, the research found a direct correlation between KS and IB and causal links between OIC and IB., This research was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, grant number PID2020-117056RB-I00 and The APC was funded by ERDF A way of making Europe.

[EN] Recently, the repair and maintenance of structures has been necessary to prevent these structures¿ sudden collapse and to prevent human and financial damage. A natural factor in marine environments that destroys structures and reduces their life is the presence of chloride ions. So regular health monitoring of concrete coastal buildings for on-time repair is essential. This study investigates the performance of the power spectral density (PSD) method as a non-destructive damage-detection method to monitor the location and amount of damage caused by chloride ions during a structure¿s life using different approaches according to life-cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost assessment (LCCA). In this regard, chloride corrosion damage dependent on zone distance from seawater was first calculated to obtain the service life of each part of a coastal concrete bridge according to the conventional method. Based on rebar corrosion each year, the next stage forecasted the bridge¿s concrete deterioration. The PSD method monitored the annual loss of reinforcement cross-sectional area, changes in dynamic characteristics such as stiffness and mass, and the bridge structure¿s life using sensitivity equations and the linear-least-squares algorithm. Finally, according to the location and quality of damage in each year of bridge life until the end of life, LCC and maintenance and repair costs of the PSD method were compared with the conventional method. The results showed that this strategy was very effective at lowering and optimizing the costs of maintenance and repair caused by chloride corrosion., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe.

[EN] The demand for more sustainable structures has been shown as a growing tendency, and engineers can use optimization techniques to aid in the design and sizing stage, achieving solutions that minimize its cost and environmental and social impacts. In pedestrian bridges, which are subjected to human-induced vibrations, it is also important to ensure the users¿ comfort, besides the security verifications. In this context, the objective of this paper is to perform a multi-objective optimization of a steel-concrete composite pedestrian bridge, minimizing cost, carbon dioxide emissions, and vertical acceleration caused by human walking. For this, the Multi-Objective Harmony Search (MOHS) was applied to obtain non-dominated solutions and compose a Pareto Front. Two scenarios were considered with different unit emissions obtained from a life cycle assessment in the literature. Results show that by increasing 15% the structure cost, the vertical acceleration is reduced from 2.5 to 1.0 m/s2. For both scenarios, the optimal ratio for the web height and total span (Le) lies between Le/20 and Le/16. The web height, the concrete strength, and the slab thickness were the design variables with more influence on the value of the vertical acceleration. The Pareto-optimal solutions were considerably sensitive to the parameters varied in each scenario, changing concrete consumption and dimensions of the welded steel I-beam, evidencing the importance of carrying out a sensitivity analysis in optimization problems., The authors received funding through grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/
10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe; and the Brazilian National Council
for Scientific and Technological Development (Grant CNPq306578/2020-4).

[EN] The revolution towards Industry 4.0 in the AECO Industry has taken Building Information Modelling (BIM) as one of its central points. BIM abilities for automatization, interoperability and sustainability play a key role in this change. In this paper, a literature review about BIM adoption for the structural project is presented. The aim of the presented review is to clearly establish the current state of knowledge of the implementation of the BIM methodology in the field of structural analysis. Papers related to these two topics simultaneously, BIM and structure analysis, during the last 10 years have been selected. The literature has been analysed from two different approaches. First, bibliometric analysis has been performed, studying the production on the topic. Secondly, 81 representative papers have been selected and analysed, establishing thematic areas via cluster analysis. The articles have also been classified upon several categorizations based on the structural life cycle and their aim. Finally, a SWOT analysis is performed from this data to create a complete framework that shows the state of the integration of the structural project in BIM environments and possible future developments and risks. This set of studies shows a tendency towards design tools and new buildings. While automatization and computer-aided design have been a trend in the research for several years, a research gap on the structural analysis via BIM for existing and heritage buildings has been pointed out, showing its ability to improve the analysis of existing buildings and its maintenance., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe".

[ES] El diseño de infraestructuras está fuertemente influido por la búsqueda de soluciones que tengan en cuenta el impacto en la economía, el medio ambiente y la sociedad. Estos criterios están muy relacionados con la definición de sostenibilidad que hizo la Comisión Brundtland en 1987. Este hito supuso un reto para técnicos, científicos y legisladores. Este reto consistía en generar métodos, criterios, herramientas y normativas que permitieran incluir el concepto de sostenibilidad en el desarrollo y diseño de nuevas infraestructuras. Desde entonces, se han producido pequeños avances en la búsqueda de la sostenibilidad, pero se necesitan más a corto plazo. Como plan de acción, las Naciones Unidas establecieron los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, fijando el año 2030 como meta para alcanzarlos. Dentro de estos objetivos, las infraestructuras se postulan como un punto crítico. Tradicionalmente, se han desarrollado métodos para obtener diseños óptimos desde el punto de vista del impacto económico. Sin embargo, aunque en los últimos tiempos se ha avanzado en la aplicación y utilización de métodos de análisis del ciclo de vida completo, aún falta un consenso claro, especialmente en el pilar social de la sostenibilidad. Dado que la sostenibilidad engloba diferentes criterios, que en principio no van necesariamente de la mano, el problema de la búsqueda de la sostenibilidad se plantea no sólo como un problema de optimización, sino también como un problema de toma de decisiones multi-criterio.

El objetivo principal de esta tesis doctoral es proponer diferentes metodologías para la obtención de diseños óptimos que introduzcan los pilares de la sostenibilidad en el diseño de puentes mixtos acero-hormigón. Como problema estructural representativo se propone un puente viga en cajón de tres vanos mixto. Dada la complejidad de la estructura, en la que intervienen 34 variables discretas, la optimización con métodos matemáticos resulta inabordable. Por ello, se propone el uso de algoritmos metaheurísticos. Esta complejidad también se traduce en un alto coste computacional para el modelo, por lo que se implementa un modelo de redes neuronales profundas que permite la validación del diseño sin necesidad de computación. Dada la naturaleza discreta del problema, se proponen técnicas de discretización para adaptar los algoritmos al problema de optimización estructural. Además, para mejorar las soluciones obtenidas a partir de estos algoritmos discretos, se introducen métodos de hibridación basados en la técnica K-means y operadores de mutación en función del tipo de algoritmo. Los algoritmos utilizados se clasifican en dos ramas. La primera son los basados en trayectorias como el Simulated Annealing, Threshold Accepting y el Algoritmo del Solterón. Por otra parte, se utilizan algoritmos de inteligencia de enjambre como Jaya, Sine Cosine Algorithm y Cuckoo Search. La metodología de Análisis del Ciclo de Vida definida en la norma ISO 14040 se utiliza para evaluar el impacto social y medioambiental de los diseños propuestos. La aplicación de esta metodología permite evaluar el impacto y compararlo con otros diseños. La evaluación mono-objetivo de los diferentes criterios lleva a la conclusión de que la optimización de costes está asociada a una reducción del impacto medioambiental y social de la estructura. Sin embargo, la optimización de los criterios medioambientales y sociales no reduce necesariamente los costes. Por ello, para realizar una optimización multi-objetivo y encontrar una solución de compromiso, se implementa una técnica basada en la Teoría de Juegos, proponiendo una estrategia de juego cooperativo. La técnica multi-criterio utilizada es la Teoría de la Entropía para asignar pesos a los criterios para la función objetivo agregada. Los criterios considerados son los tres pilares de la sostenibilidad y la facilidad constructiva de la losa superior. Aplicando esta técnica se obtiene un diseño óptimo relativo a los tres pilares de la soste, [CAT] El disseny d'infraestructures està fortament influït per la cerca de solucions que tinguen en compte l'impacte en l'economia, el medi ambient i la societat. Aquests criteris estan molt relacionats amb la definició de sostenibilitat que va fer la Comissió Brundtland en 1987. Aquesta fita va suposar un repte per a tècnics, científics i legisladors. Aquest repte consistia a generar mètodes, criteris, eines i normatives que permeteren incloure el concepte de sostenibilitat en el desenvolupament i disseny de noves infraestructures. Des de llavors, s'han produït xicotets avanços en la cerca de la sostenibilitat, però es necessiten més a curt termini. Com a pla d'acció, les Nacions Unides van establir els Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible, fixant l'any 2030 com a meta per aconseguir-los. Dins d'aquests objectius, les infraestructures es postulen com un punt crític. Tradicionalment, s'han desenvolupat mètodes per a obtindre dissenys òptims des del punt de vista de l'impacte econòmic. No obstant això, encara que en els últims temps s'ha avançat en l'aplicació i utilització de mètodes d'anàlisis del cicle de vida complet, encara falta un consens clar, especialment en el pilar social de la sostenibilitat. Atés que la sostenibilitat engloba diferents criteris, que en principi no van necessàriament de la mà, el problema de la cerca de la sostenibilitat es planteja no sols com un problema d'optimització, sinó també com un problema de presa de decisions multi-criteri.

L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi doctoral és proposar diferents metodologies per a l'obtenció de dissenys òptims que introduïsquen els pilars de la sostenibilitat en el disseny de ponts mixtos. Com a problema estructural representatiu es proposa un pont viga en calaix de tres vans mixt. Donada la complexitat de l'estructura, en la qual intervenen 34 variables discretes, l'optimització amb mètodes matemàtics resulta inabordable. Per això, es proposa l'ús d'algorismes metaheurísticos. Aquesta complexitat també es tradueix en un alt cost computacional per al model, per la qual cosa s'implementa un model de xarxes neuronals profundes que permet la validació del disseny sense necessitat de computació. Donada la naturalesa discreta del problema, es proposen tècniques de discretització per a adaptar els algorismes al problema d'optimització estructural. A més, per a millorar les solucions obtingudes a partir d'aquests algorismes discrets, s'introdueixen mètodes d'hibridació basats en la tècnica K-*means i operadors de mutació en funció del tipus d'algorisme. Els algorismes utilitzats es classifiquen en dues branques. La primera són els basats en trajectòries com la Simulated Annealing, Threshold Accepting i el Old Bachelor Acceptance. D'altra banda, s'utilitzen algorismes d'intel·ligència d'eixam com Jaya, Sine Cosine Algorithm i Cuckoo Search. La metodologia d'Anàlisi del Cicle de Vida definida en la norma ISO 14040 s'utilitza per a avaluar l'impacte social i mediambiental dels dissenys proposats. L'aplicació d'aquesta metodologia permet avaluar l'impacte i comparar-lo amb altres dissenys. L'avaluació mono-objectiu dels diferents criteris porta a la conclusió que l'optimització de costos està associada a una reducció de l'impacte mediambiental i social de l'estructura. No obstant això, l'optimització dels criteris mediambientals i socials no redueix necessàriament els costos. Per això, per a realitzar una optimització multi-objectiu i trobar una solució de compromís, s'implementa una tècnica basada en la Teoria de Jocs, proposant una estratègia de joc cooperatiu. La tècnica multi-criteri utilitzada és la Teoria de l'Entropia per a assignar pesos als criteris per a la funció objectiu agregada. Els criteris considerats són els tres pilars de la sostenibilitat i la facilitat constructiva de la llosa superior. Aplicant aquesta tècnica s'obté un disseny òptim relatiu als tres pilars de la sostenibilitat i a partir del qual es millora la facilitat constructiva., [EN] Infrastructure design is strongly influenced by the search for solutions considering the impact on the economy, the environment, and society. These criteria were strongly related to the definition of sustainability by the Brundtland Commission in 1987. This milestone posed a challenge for technicians, scientists, and legislators alike. This challenge consisted of generating methods, criteria, tools, and regulations that would allow the inclusion of the concept of sustainability in developing and designing new infrastructures. Since then, small advances have been made in the search for sustainability, but they need more in the short term. As an action plan, the United Nations established the Sustainable Development Goals, setting the year 2030 as the target for achieving them. Within these goals, infrastructure is postulated as a critical point. Traditionally, methods have been developed to obtain optimal designs from the point of view of economic impact. However, although recent advances have been made in implementing and using complete life cycle analysis methods, there still needs to be a clear consensus, especially in the social pillar of sustainability. Given that sustainability encompasses different criteria, which in principle do not necessarily go hand in hand, the problem of finding sustainability is posed not only as an optimization problem but also as a multi-criteria decision-making problem.

The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to propose different methodologies for obtaining optimal designs that introduce the pillars of sustainability in the design of steel-concrete composite bridges. A three-span box-girder bridge is proposed as a representative structural problem. Given the complexity of the structure, which involves 34 discrete variables, optimization with mathematical methods is unaffordable. Therefore, the use of metaheuristic algorithms is proposed. This complexity also translates into a high computational cost for the model, so a deep neural networks model is implemented to allow the validation of the design without the need for computation. Given the problem's discrete nature, discretization techniques are proposed to adapt the algorithms to the structural optimization problem. In addition, to improve the solutions obtained from these discrete algorithms, hybridization methods based on the K-means technique and mutation operators are introduced depending on the type of algorithm. The algorithms used are classified into two branches. The first are those based on trajectories such as Simulated Annealing, Threshold Accepting, and Old Bachelor Acceptance. Moreover, swarm intelligence algorithms such as Jaya, Sine Cosine Algorithm, and Cuckoo Search are used. The Life Cycle Assessment methodology defined in the ISO 14040 standard is used to evaluate the social and environmental impact of the proposed designs. The application of this methodology allows the evaluation of the impact and comparison with other designs. The single-objective evaluation of the different criteria leads to the conclusion that cost optimization is associated with a reduction of the environmental and social impact of the structure. However, optimizing environmental and social criteria does not necessarily reduce costs. Therefore, to perform a multi-objective optimization and find a compromise solution, a technique based on Game Theory is implemented, proposing a cooperative game strategy. The multi-criteria technique used is the Entropy Theory to assign criteria weights for the aggregate objective function. The criteria considered are the three pillars of sustainability and the constructive ease of the top slab. Applying this technique results in an optimal design concerning the three pillars of sustainability and from which the constructive ease is improved., I would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. This research would not have been possible without the support of grant FPU-18/01592, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, "ESF invests in your future", as well as the financial assistance provided by DIMALIFE (BIA2017-85098-R) and HYDELIFE (PID2020-117056RB-I00), both funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/5011-00011033, and "ERDF A way of making Europe".

[EN] The prioritisation of public facilities¿ maintenance is a necessary but complex task due to the need of considering both physical and socio-economic criteria. This study addresses this problem by quantifying the improvement in the delivery of social benefits that the corrective maintenance of an urban area¿s public facilities could yield. Based on this, a decision framework is proposed to design and schedule corrective maintenance plans at a municipal scale. The methodology integrates multi-criteria assessment with an analytical method for evaluating the contribution of an area¿s public facilities to its sustainable urban development based on their type of social infrastructure and their maintenance condition. The decision framework is implemented as a software to facilitate its application to a case study, consisting in building urban regeneration strategies aligned with governmental guidelines. The results revealed that decision-making is more efficient when considering the facilities¿ type of social infrastructure. In addition, a cost-efficient prioritisation of corrective measures yields better results than neglecting the economy., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by 'ERDF A way of making Europe'. The authors also acknowledge the financial support provided by mgnesio strategic engineering.

[EN] Nomograms are an ancient and efficient mathematical tool for solving complex problems. It
is a graphical representation of a mathematical function that allows solving equations
without requiring extensive manual calculations. Although electronic calculators have
relegated their use, nomograms still have advantages in engineering education, especially in
repetitive calculations and the two-dimensional representation of multiple input and
response variables. In addition, nomograms help handle different unit systems, reduce the
probability of magnitude errors, and are robust to failures. These tools have been tested on
undergraduate and graduate students in various engineering fields. Subsequently, a Likertscale survey was conducted, which shows that students have a great interest in these tools
and find them helpful in the engineering learning process. Even though 78.4 % of the
respondents had not used nomograms, 86.5 % believe this analogical tool allows a
reasonable interpretation of the phenomenon when there are many variables. Furthermore,
ther is a majority opinion that teachers should use nomograms in teaching., [ES] Los nomogramas son una herramienta matemática antigua y eficiente para resolver problemas complejos. Se trata de una representación gráfica de una función matemática que permite resolver ecuaciones sin necesidad de realizar cálculos manuales exhaustivos. Aunque las calculadoras electrónicas han relegado su uso, los nomogramas todavía tienen ventajas en la docencia de la ingeniería, especialmente en cálculos repetitivos y en la representación en dos dimensiones de múltiples variables de entrada y respuesta. Además, los nomogramas son útiles en el manejo de distintos sistemas de unidades, reducen la probabilidad de errores de magnitud y son robustos a fallos. Se ha probado el uso de estas herramientas en estudiantes de grado y posgrado en diversas ingenierías. Posteriormente, se realizó una encuesta en escala Likert que demuestra que los estudiantes tienen un gran interés en estas herramientas y encuentran que son útiles en el proceso de aprendizaje de la ingeniería. A pesar de que un 78,4 % de los encuestados no habían utilizado nomogramas, el 86,5 % cree que esta herramienta analógica permite una buena interpretación del fenómeno cuando hay muchas variables y que los profesores deberían utilizarla en la docencia., Apoyo recibido por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Proyecto de Investigación PID2020-117056RB-I00).

[EN] The present study examines Civil Engineering graduate students' perception of current issues
and their level of knowledge compared to other groups. For this purpose, Hans Rosling's
Factfulness Quiz was employed, which measured their perspective on recurring topics in the
media. Of the one hundred and sixteen students who responded to the survey, a 33.58%
correct rate was observed, suggesting a need for more understanding of contemporary
issues. However, the study also points out the need to implement improvement measures in
training students to improve their competencies. From this new perspective, students would
be more open to understanding the mechanisms that have led them to assimilate unfounded
social beliefs. Therefore, graduate students must increase their knowledge about current
issues to be more informed and aware of the limitations of interpreting complex issues., [ES] El presente estudio examina la percepción de los estudiantes de posgrado de Ingeniería Civil sobre los temas actuales y su nivel de conocimiento en comparación con otros grupos. Para ello, se empleó el Factfulness Quiz de Hans Rosling, el cual midió su perspectiva sobre temas recurrentes en los medios de comunicación. De los ciento dieciséis estudiantes que respondieron a la encuesta, se observó una tasa de acierto del 33,58%, lo que sugiere una falta de comprensión de los problemas contemporáneos. No obstante, el estudio también señala la necesidad de implementar medidas de mejora en la formación de los estudiantes para mejorar sus competencias en este ámbito. Desde esta nueva perspectiva, los estudiantes estarían más abiertos a comprender los mecanismos que les han llevado a asimilar creencias sociales infundadas. Por tanto, es crucial que los estudiantes de posgrado incrementen su conocimiento acerca de los problemas actuales para estar más informados y conscientes de las limitaciones que pueden surgir al interpretar temas complejos., Los autores agradecen el apoyo recibido por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Proyecto de Investigación PID2020-117056RB-I00).

[EN] Water infrastructure integrity, quality, and distribution are fundamental for public health, environmental sustainability, economic development, and climate change resilience. Ensuring the robustness and quality of water infrastructure is pivotal for sectors like agriculture, industry, and energy production. Machine learning (ML) offers potential for bolstering water infrastructure integrity and quality by analyzing extensive data from sensors and other sources, optimizing treatment protocols, minimizing water losses, and improving distribution methods. This study delves into ML applications in water infrastructure integrity and quality by analyzing English-language articles from 2015 onward, compiling a total of 1087 articles. Initially, a natural language processing approach centered on topic modeling was adopted to classify salient topics. From each identified topic, key terms were extracted and utilized in a semi-automatic selection process, pinpointing the most relevant articles for further scrutiny, while unsupervised ML algorithms can assist in extracting themes from the documents, generating meaningful topics often requires intricate hyperparameter adjustments. Leveraging the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERTopic) enhanced the study¿s contextual comprehension in topic modeling. This semi-automatic methodology for bibliographic exploration begins with a broad topic categorization, advancing to an exhaustive analysis of each topic. The insights drawn underscore ML¿s instrumental role in enhancing water infrastructure¿s integrity and quality, suggesting promising future research directions. Specifically, the study has identified four key areas where ML has been applied to water management: (1) advancements in the detection of water contaminants and soil erosion; (2) forecasting of water levels; (3) advanced techniques for leak detection in water networks; and (4) evaluation of water quality and potability. These findings underscore the transformative impact of ML on water infrastructure and suggest promising paths for continued investigation., Víctor Yepes is supported by Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe.

[EN] Metamodel-assisted optimization is a valuable alternative to handle structural design optimization procedures, which are usually quite expensive and sometimes even prohibitive. This paper presents an up-to-date literature review on metamodel-assisted structural design optimization (MASDO) in the structural engineering field. The period analyzed is from 2000 to the present, involving 111 publications and 169 case studies. In order to provide practical recommendations on best practices to perform MASDO, eight categorical variables are analyzed, and underlying relationships between them are detected by applying simple and multiple correspondence analysis. Surprisingly, there are fewer published papers on the subject than expected. Most focus on improving or developing metamodeling strategies using simple (benchmark) case studies to validate the proposed methodologies. Consequently, the originality and value of this study lie in the conclusions obtained from the statistical analysis, which serve as a practical guide for incorporating metamodeling strategies in future projects related to structural design optimization., This work was supported by the grant PID2020-117056RB-I00, which was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe". Grant PRE2021-097197 funded by CIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by FSE +.

[EN] Although it is still common practice to use homogeneous steel girders (same yield strength in the flanges and web), implementing hybrid configurations seems to be an excellent alternative to improve the performance and sustainability of this type of structural element. Therefore, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge on hybrid steel girders. The objective is to improve our understanding of this innovative and sustainable alternative to traditional homogeneous steel elements, with a focus on updating the theoretical basis for future design projects. The study analyzes 128 publications, from which information is extracted on five categorical variables, reflecting the current situation of hybrid elements. In addition to studying each variable separately and highlighting the most relevant research to date, a more in-depth statistical analysis is performed. It is based on simple correspondence analysis, which allows identifying the underlying relationships among the variables. Results summarize the design methods implemented to calculate these structures. Furthermore, the recommended hybrid ratios to achieve the best performance are presented. However, it is found that there are gaps in the research. Consequently, several promising lines of investigation are proposed., This work was supported by the grant PID2020-117056RB-I00, which was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe". Grant PRE2021-097197 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by FSE + .

[EN] The concerns surrounding sustainability, alternative energies, and lifestyle changes due to the pandemic have resulted in a surge in the manufacturing of buildings utilizing Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), particularly in housing. These methods involve using new technologies as smart building alternatives to traditional construction. Against the backdrop of Industry 4.0, there is an urgent need for a systematic literature review of MMCs in building construction to classify them, detect trends and gaps, and outline future research areas. This study analyzed 633 publications from 1975 to 2022 and grouped them into six thematic clusters and 18 subcategories, using a novel mixed methodology incorporating natural language processing (NLP) analysis. The qualitative analysis of the literature indicates that research in the field is dominated by tools and technologies integrated into Construction 4.0 and the industry's management aspects. However, this review also highlights several gaps in research, including the need for more application of MMC to building retrofitting and the need for approaches to improve the built environment through the new paradigm of regenerative design. The high-level mapping and characterization of the bibliographic corpus's conceptual structure and the classical evaluation process based on systematic literature review (SLR) have provided a more profound and rigorous state-of-the-art understanding., Grant PID2020-117056RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe".

[EN] It is well known that conventional heuristic optimization is the most common approach to deal with structural optimization problems. However, metamodel-assisted optimization has become a valuable strategy for decreasing computational consumption. This paper applies conventional heuristic and Kriging-based meta-heuristic optimization to minimize the CO2 emissions of spatial reinforced concrete frame structures, considering an aspect usually ignored during modeling, such as the soil-structure interaction (SSI). Due to the particularities of the formulated problem, there are better strategies than simple Kriging-based optimization to solve it. Thus, a meta-heuristic strategy is proposed using a Kriging-based two-phase methodology and a local search algorithm. Three different models of structures are used in the study. Results show that including the SSI leads to different design results than those obtained using classical supports. The foundations, usually ignored in this type of research, also prove significant within the structural assembly. Additionally, using an appropriate coefficient of penalization, the meta-heuristic approach can find (on average) results up to 98.24% accuracy for cohesive soils and 98.10% for frictional ones compared with the results of the heuristic optimization, achieving computational savings of about 90%. Therefore, considering aspects such as the SSI, the proposed metamodeling strategy allows for dealing with high-complexity structural optimization problems., This work was supported by the grant PID2020-117056RB-I00, which was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe". Grant PRE2021-097197 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by FSE+.

[EN] This paper implements structural design optimization to improve the economic indexes of welded steel plate girders. The optimization problem is formulated in a way that allows the use of hybrid configurations, i.e., different types of steel in the flanges and web. Besides the cross-sectional dimensions, eleven steel grades are included as optimization variables. In addition to weight and material cost, the manufacturing cost is formulated as an optimization objective, which includes seven other activities, such as welding or painting. The geometrically double symmetric I-girder design subjected to a uniform transverse load is carried out through the Eurocode 3 rules. Nine case studies are implemented by varying the girder span and load values. The results show significant differences depending on the optimization objective, especially between weight and cost optimization. On the other hand, optimization-assisted design provides solutions up to 50% more economical than traditional design methods. Hybrid-optimized configurations can also improve these indexes by about 10% compared to their homogeneous counterpart, demonstrating the applicability of this novel practice. Certain concepts highlighting mechanical properties are proposed to compare the optimal solutions for each case study. These concepts can serve as design recommendations for future projects that include this structural element. Finally, based on the research gaps and the promising results obtained, future lines of research on this topic are established., This work was supported by the grant PID2020-117056RB-I00, which was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe". Grant PRE2021-097197 funded by CIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by FSE+.