ABSTRACT
There is a pressing need for a more conceptual and generic definition of risk in the context of infrastructure performance. The objective of this paper is to propose such an expanded definition of risk appropriate for underpinning infrastructure decisions. This paper presents a brief history of risk and discusses the current limitations of convention risk definitions related to infrastructure decision-making. Of particular interest
is the need to include both psychological and cultural weighing factors within the risk formulation. This allows both the public perception related to the objectional nature of the specific risk and the cultural expectations for infrastructures to be explicitly defined and considered. The paper concludes with a description of an eight step procedure for constructing an integrated asset management system, based on the proposed risk definition, to effectively underpin infrastructure decision-making.
