EURO 2025 Leeds
Abstract Submission

2020. Optimizing post-disaster debris removal: bridging strategic planning and operational routing

Invited abstract in session TB-7: Scheduling in humanitarian operations, stream Scheduling and Project Management.

Tuesday, 10:30-12:00
Room: Clarendon GR.01

Authors (first author is the speaker)

1. Félix Combaud
LITIS, Université du Havre
2. Andréa Cynthia Santos
Normandie, Normandie Université
3. Christophe Duhamel
LITIS, Université Le Havre Normandie

Abstract

One of the major challenges in the aftermath of a disaster in an urban area is the removal of debris generated by the demolition of damaged buildings or the clearing of road networks. This problem, known as the Scheduling and Routing Problem to Clean Debris (SRP-CD), requires managing two distinct resources: (i) work-troops, which extract debris from sites, and (ii) trucks, which transport materials to landfills. In a post-disaster context, the vast debris volume and the size of the affected area require a long-term cleaning schedule spanning months or years. While such strategic planning provides valuable estimates, the scale of the problem makes vehicle routing decisions complex, leading to the use of simplifications and heuristic methods.

This work aims to bridge the gap between strategic and operational planning. We propose a multi-day vehicle routing model that explicitly considers (i) multiple debris types per site (e.g., concrete and metal), (ii) split multi-trips, where trucks can collect debris from multiple sites before reaching a landfill, (iii) resource constraints, where a truck carries only one debris type per trip, and (iv) debris stock management, ensuring that uncollected debris at the end of a time period is carried over to the next, influencing subsequent routing decisions. The resulting problem and its dedicated solving strategies will be presented, with a focus on efficiently coordinating work-troops and trucks over an extended planning horizon.

Keywords

Status: accepted


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