Evaluation of efficiency of torrential protective structures with new BF-TOPSIS methods

Decision-Aid Methods (DAMs) such as the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) help decision-makers to rank alternatives or to choose the best one among several potential ones. The new Belief Function based Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (BF-TOPSIS) methods have been recently developed for Multi-Criteria Decision-Making problems. In this paper, we compare CBA, AHP and BF-TOPSIS methods through an actual application case to natural risks in mountains. The CBA is the most used approach but is limited. Classical Multi-Criteria Decision-Aid methods (MCDAs) such as the AHP help to go further. The BF-TOPSIS methods notably show a robustness to rank reversal problems in the problem under concern, with a tractable complexity. Moreover, some steps of these new methods can be included in other MCDAs developed under the belief function theory framework.