Towards Resilient and Sustainable Rail and Road Networks: A Systematic Literature Review on Digital Twins

João Vieira, João Poças Martins, Nuno Marques de Almeida, Hugo Patrício and João Gomes Morgado
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João Vieira: CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
João Poças Martins: CONSTRUCT-GEQUALTEC, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Nuno Marques de Almeida: CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Hugo Patrício: Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A., 2809-013 Almada, Portugal
João Gomes Morgado: Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A., 2809-013 Almada, Portugal

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: The digital transformation of engineering assets has been receiving increased attention from the scientific community in the last few years. In this regard, Digital Twins (DTs) have been widely applied in the industry and are now reaching the civil infrastructures domain. At the same time, infrastructure managers face an increasing need to improve the sustainability and resilience of their assets. This paper aims firstly to map and present the current extent of DT application in rail and road networks, and secondly to perceive how these applications can contribute to increase their sustainability and resilience. To achieve this, the authors propose a systematic review on the DT literature related to rail and road infrastructure networks. The results show that the DT research in this domain is still scarce and that only a few use cases have attracted the attention of the scientific community. The results also indicate that most applications in rail and road networks focus on their operation and maintenance, and that there is a considerable unexplored potential for DT applications in this sector. More DT-related studies within this scope are expected to emerge in the coming years, and further research regarding its contribution to sustainability and resilience is needed.

Keywords: digital twin; rail; road; critical infrastructure; asset management; systematic review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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