Fuzzy decision making in dredged-material management

A decision support system based on a modified fuzzy-composite programming method is developed to assist decision makers in solving multiple-objective decision problems under uncertainty. The method is applied to a dredged material management problem involving disposal of polluted dredged material at multiple disposal sites, where there are conflicting objectives such as environmental risk and cost, and the information regarding the impacts of dredged material disposal on each site is uncertain. Using the modified fuzzy-composite programming method, values of the risk and cost are transformed into fuzzy numbers (i.e., fuzzy risk and fuzzy cost) to incorporate uncertainties associated with the risk and cost into the risk-versus-cost trade-off analysis.