Abstract
This study aimed at developing an effective approach to evaluating the durability of existing water supply pipes. The influential factors were clarified and classified into two groups, i. e. general factors and corrosion environment factors. Then, an approach using fuzzy sets theory was proposed to combine the evaluations on each group of factors. In the approach, the general factors are evaluated using an existing statistical model and the corrosion environment ones using experts' knowledge. A small number of field surveys of water supply pipes are required to be carried out for the combination of evaluations. The approach was used to establish an evaluation model for the cast iron pipes in Nagoya City and the model showed higher accuracy than the statistical model.
