Original Research Article Dam construction material selection by implementing the integrated SWARA–CODAS approach with target-based attributes Abteen Ijadi Maghsoodi a, * , Arta Ijadi Maghsoodi b , Parastou Poursoltan c , Jurgita Antucheviciene d, * , Zenonas Turskis d a Department of Industrial Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hesarak, 1477893855, Tehran, Iran b Department of Chemical And Petroleum Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hesarak, 1477893855, Tehran, Iran c Department of Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Sapienza University Of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, Rome, 00184, Italy d Department of Construction Management and Real Estate, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Sauletekio al. 11, LT-10223, Vilnius, Lithuania a r c h i v e s o f c i v i l a n d m e c h a n i c a l e n g i n e e r i n g 1 9 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 1 1 9 4 – 1 2 1 0 a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 6 September 2018 Accepted 17 June 2019 Available online Keywords: Dam construction Material selection Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) COmbinative Distance-based ASsessment (CODAS) Step-Wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) a b s t r a c t The selection of the optimal material in engineering design procedures of any construction project due to the complexity of future circumstances could be considered as a complex problem. Similar complex selection problems can be efficiently implemented with the support of Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) methods. The traditional MADM methods focus both on beneficial or non-beneficial attributes to determine a rank order of feasible alternatives and to select the best one. Nevertheless, like many engineering design problems, some attributes could be assessed based on target values. Therefore, target values of attributes along with beneficial and non-beneficial attributes makes a decision-making method more robust. Despite practical and functional applications of the target-based MADM approaches particularly in engineering design problems, only a few studies have made attempts to implement such methods. The presented study tackles a material selection problem by applying a hybrid decision-making approach supported on the Step-Wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) method and COmbinative Dis- tance-based ASsessment (CODAS) technique containing target-based attributes. A case- study concerning the selection of optimal cement material type based on a real-world conceptual dam construction project in Iran has been analyzed by the proposed method considering two categories of attributes, i.e., managerial issues and technical specifications. © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Politechnika Wroclawska. * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: Aimaghsoodi@srbiau.ac.ir, Aimaghsoodi@outlook.com (A. Ijadi Maghsoodi), arta.ijadimaghsoodi@srbiau.ac.ir, Artaijadimaghsoodi@outlook.com (A. Ijadi Maghsoodi), poursoltan.1873020@studenti.uniroma1.it (P. Poursoltan), jurgita.antucheviciene@vgtu.lt (J. Antucheviciene), zenonas.turskis@vgtu.lt (Z. Turskis). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/acme https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acme.2019.06.010 1644-9665/© 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Politechnika Wroclawska.