The objective of this paper is to review and evaluate current methods for communicating risk within the context of infrastructure management decision support systems. A generic model of a risk-based infrastructure management system is presented to illustrate important relationships of key decision support functions and the critical flow of risk communication within this framework. The model includes three primary functions that are deemed necessary to effectively manage risk, namely (ⅰ) risk assessment, (ⅱ) decision analysis, and (ⅲ) executive decision/policy making, which typically involve engineers, statisticians, decision analysts, and owner/stakeholders. Another important function of risk-based management systems discussed in the paper includes the communication of risk to system users. The paper will present key metrics and performance measures used to communicate risk by and among various agencies and owners of critical infrastructure systems. The study concludes with a general assessment of the current means and methods of communicating risk within the framework of risk-based civil infrastructure management systems and identifies important needs for future research related to developing more effective and efficient communications.
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