Risk assessment of bridge under hurricane with experimental and numerical method

Climate change scenarios (e.g., amplification of hurricane hazard) could cause tremendous damage to coastal communities, especially for the low-lying coastal bridges. Damaged bridges may result in disruption of transportation systems, as well as tremendous financial and social losses. Thus, it is of vital importance to identify and quantity the failure risks of coastal bridges under hurricanes. This paper develops an integrated framework to assess the fragility and risk of bridge failure caused by hurricane induced surge and waves. Numerical analysis is investigated to assess the wave-structure interaction process. Laboratory experiments are conducted as well to verify and modify the numerical model. The uncertainties associated with hazard models, structural materials and workmanship errors are considered in the fragility and risk assessment process. The application of this framework is demonstrated on a typical bridge example. The research could contribute to the management of existing coastal bridges and design of future new structures under hurricanes by considering the changing climate.