Knowledge-based systems in civil engineering: three case studies

Although substantial advances have been achieved in last twenty years, in practice we are still far from taking full advantage of the potential of knowledge-based systems (KBS). Very few KBS have survived their evaluation period and only one third of those that were initially reported as successful are still in use. The primary purpose of the paper is to report on three KBS applications that have been developed for research purposes in the field of civil engineering. The main challenge underlying all three projects has been to develop computer support systems that would induce changes and improvements to the way that engineers solve their everyday problems. A great deal of effort has been put into eliciting knowledge and reasoning strategies from engineering experts with the aim of building up a computer model of their expertise in order to assist engineers in their decision-making processes. The paper closes by highlighting the principal achievements and the main issues concerning the future development of KBS for solving real life problems.