In the field of urban development few challenges are as tough as the housing problem. The cause for this is the rapid expansion of urban populations combined with slow construction processes. The Open Design Systems (Odesys) methodology is a preference-based design methodology for creating and evaluating designs. For this it uses a-priori method of optimization, where the preferences of stakeholders for each project objective are determined in the beginning of the process. Designs are thereafter created based on these preferences. Central to the success of preference-based design is the attitude of stakeholders towards using the methodology, which in other words is acceptance for this methodology. How can acceptance be evaluated? To do this the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used. The system design features in the TAM were categorized in the “Use”, “Functionality” and the “Presentation”. Modifications to the Odesys methodology were made in these categories to see the effect on the stakeholder acceptability using the TAM. This research attempted to raise the acceptability for the Odesys methodology with the use of 2 case studies. The conclusion was that for the “Use” category the acceptability was dependent on the project design phase and the involvement of stakeholders. For the “Functionality”, the result reliability and the running time were important factors. The “Presentation” category consisted of the interface and the distinction between group and individual sessions. Modifications to these were developed and tested. This resulted in an increased perceived usefulness and a perceived ease-of-use , which according to the TAM results in an increased acceptance.

In response to the European Commission's initiative to shift freight transport from road to inland waterways, there is a need to expand the capacity of inland ports to accommodate larger cargo ships. This expansion requires lowering the water bottom, which will increase the forces exerted on the quay walls. The quay walls should therefore be reinforced by applying structural adjustments, for minimal costs and environmental impact. The goal of this thesis is therefore to develop a decision support tool, which is able to directly determine the preferred configuration of structural adjustments. To maximise the aggregated preference of all stakeholders involved while satisfying the systems constraints, the a-priori design optimisation method of the Preferendus is applied.

The tool, developed using computational science, uses Python because of its capability to automate repetitive calculations. It integrates with the program D-Sheet Piling that is used for specific sheet pile calculations. The tool is designed to be used during the preliminary design phase, enabling quick assessment of potential reinforcement adjustments and facilitating insight into the preferred solution. It evaluates three main strategies for quay wall reinforcement: lowering active soil stress, increasing passive soil stress, and enhancing pile stability. The tool uniquely focuses on maximising the aggregated preference of involved stakeholders and is capable of evaluating failure mechanisms of sheet piles.

It is tested on three case studies, all located in the industrial harbour Loven in Tilburg. The results show that the tool effectively proposes which structural adjustments are applicable to create a sheet pile design that satisfies. The thesis concludes by drawing specific conclusions for each structural adjustment considered in the project. Moreover, it concludes that the development of a decision support tool has been successful. In particular, the tool enhances efficiency in sheet pile calculations, offers detailed insights into the environmental and financial impact of adjustments and enables the direct determination of the preferred configuration of structural adjustments. This eliminates the need to choose the preferred configuration from a number of designed variants, which is the current approach.

Additionally, the thesis recommends to conduct a follow-up research on the applicability of underwater anchors, which have shown significant structural potential. Furthermore, it recommends to conduct laboratory tests to potentially improve the cohesion and angle of internal friction of soil layers. If those soil parameters can be improved, no structural adjustment may be necessary to reinforce quay walls at all.