To reduce long-term infrastructure expenses, the coastal transit authority of Metropolis plans to install continuous ultrasonic vibration sensors on the underwater concrete pillars of its main commuter bridges. Engineers argue that by detecting micro-fractures in real time, maintenance crews can perform minor localized patch repairs before major structural fatigue occurs, thereby significantly lowering total repair expenditures over the next decade.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the engineers' argument?
- The cost to purchase, install, and maintain the ultrasonic sensors is substantially lower than the net financial savings produced by preventing even a single major structural overhaul.Cevap
- BAmbient underwater noise from nearby commercial shipping channels routinely causes ultrasonic monitoring systems to log false readings, necessitating costly diver deployments to perform manual verifications.
- CTotal vehicular traffic across the commuter bridges is expected to expand by nearly twenty percent over the coming decade due to regional population growth.
- DThe transit authority has already successfully integrated ultrasonic monitoring technology to track track-bed shifts along its above-ground light rail network.
- EMost surface roadway damage on coastal bridges stems from chemical de-icing salts rather than structural issues originating in underwater support pillars.
Cevap
The statement establishing that the cost of purchasing, installing, and maintaining the ultrasonic sensors is substantially lower than the net financial savings produced by preventing a major structural overhaul.
The correct answer provides the missing piece of economic logic necessary for the plan's success. The author claims that performing minor localized repairs guided by sensors will lower total repair expenditures over ten years. However, if buying and maintaining these continuous sensors costs more than the money saved by preventing major overhauls, overall expenditures would increase. Confirming that sensor acquisition and maintenance expenses are substantially lower than the savings from avoiding overhauls directly supports the conclusion.
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Anahtar Kavram
Strengthening Arguments by Supplying Missing Financial Link / Cost-Benefit Viability
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