The development of a life cycle cost model for railroad tunnels

Abstract

Today, Life Cycle Costing is one of the most popular ways of assessing a project's or an investment's worth to a company. This method of assessment is often applied to all stages of a investment's lifecycle, starting from its conceptual stage up to its disposal stage. If executed properly and thoroughly, Life Cycle Cost Analysis can be very useful to project investors and managers in that this analysis equips these people with more insight to make better and more appropriate financial decisions. In addition, a separate analysis called Sensitivity Analysis can also be applied to predict any changes that may affect the Life Cycle Cost of a certain investment. These tools if used together can effectively evaluate any projects' financial worth. The author has carried out both analyses to evaluate the financial value of the Lotschberg Basis Tunnel in Switzerland.