Bridge Failure Rate

Cook, Wesley; Barr, Paul; Halling, Marvin W.

doi:10.1061/(asce)cf.1943-5509.0000571

Cited by 95 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The nominal lifetime and nominal event reliability approaches produced annual failure probabilities in the range of 0.023-0.08% annually (1.7-5.8% over a 75-year lifetime). These probabilities are of the same order of magnitude as previous annual collapse rate estimates (1 in 5,000 or 0.02%) (Cook et al 2015;Arneson et al 2012;Kattell and Eriksson 1998), which are inclusive of all possible collapse causes and thus more comparable to the nominal lifetime reliability value.…”

Section: Collapse Risk and Potential Impact Of Climate Land-use Or supporting

confidence: 77%

“…Several studies have estimated an annual hydraulic collapse frequency of approximately 1/5,000 (e.g., Nowak and Collins 2012). Scour-erosion of the soil supporting bridge foundations-alone has been estimated to cause the collapse of 20-100 bridges per year in the United States (Briaud et al 2007;Cook et al 2015;Stein and Sedmera 2006) of a total population of bridges over water of approximately 504,000 (FHWA 2012). Hydraulic and other collapse causes have been linked to substantial direct and indirect costs, casualties, and user delays and increased greenhouse gas emissions resulting from detours and delays (Suarez et al 2005;Stein and Sedmera 2006;Stein et al 1999;Neumann et al 2015;Wright et al 2012;Cook et al 2015;Briaud et al 2007Briaud et al , 2014.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Historical Analysis of Hydraulic Bridge Collapses in the Continental United States

Flint

Fringer

Billington

et al. 2017

J. Infrastruct. Syst.

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Predictions of the risk to built infrastructure posed by climate and land-use change have suggested that bridge collapses may increase due to more frequent or intense flooding. Assessments of the United States often assume that bridges may collapse when the 100-year flood (i.e., a flood with 1% annual frequency of exceedance) occurs, but this assumption has not been fully tested because of a lack of comprehensive collapse records. Thirty-five bridges for which a stream gauge on or near the bridge recorded the flow during total or partial collapse were identified and used to test this assumption. Flood frequency analyses, other statistical analyses, and structural reliability methods were used to quantify the return periods of collapse-inducing flows, identify trends linked to event and site characteristics, and evaluate the potential importance of collapse return period variability in assessing the impact of climate and land-use change on hydraulic collapse risk. The results indicate that the collapse-inducing flow return periods varied considerably (range: 1 to >1,000 years) and were frequently lower than values considered in many climate impact assessments: 23 of the 35 bridges were estimated to have collapsed during flows with return periods of lower than 100 years. Annual failure probabilities computed using the full distribution of return periods of the collapse-inducing flows, as opposed to central values (e.g., means), were more sensitive to an assumed increase or decrease in the underlying frequency of flooding. These results suggest that linking bridge collapse to only the 100-year flow does not capture significant variability associated with collapse return periods, potentially reducing sensitivity to flood frequency changes and reducing the robustness of assessments of the impact of climate, land-use, and streamflow-regulation change on hydraulic bridge collapse risk.

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Section: Collapse Risk and Potential Impact Of Climate Land-use Or supporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Analysis of Hydraulic Bridge Collapses in the Continental United States

Flint

Fringer

Billington

et al. 2017

J. Infrastruct. Syst.

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“…The most common cause of bridge failure is the scouring of bed material around bridge foundations during floods. According to Cook, Barr, and Halling (), hydraulic damage occurred in 52% of bridge failures, with the primary cause being scour. The accumulation of debris and drifts around a bridge pier can then substantially modify and increase local scour patterns (Pagliara & Carnacina, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bridge pier scour under pressure flow conditions

Carnacina

Pagliara

Leonardi

2019

River Research & Apps

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The probability of pressurized flow conditions occurring in existing bridges is forecast to increase due to possible changes in extreme precipitation, storm surges, and flooding predicted under climate change scenarios. The presence of a pressure flow is generally associated with scouring processes in proximity to the bridge. Scouring can also occur around bridge piers, possibly causing infrastructure failure. Although there is a vast literature on bridge pier scour and pressure flow scour, only a few studies have investigated their combined effect. This study will provide a new overview of the main features of bridge pier scour under pressurized flow conditions, based on laboratory experiences. Special focus is placed on the analysis of the flow features under pressure and free surface conditions and to the temporal evolution of the scour. A comparison with existing literature data is also conducted. The results highlight the nonlinear nature of scour processes and the need to consider pressurized flow conditions during structural design, as the interaction between pressure flow and the bridge pier strongly influences scour features and leads to scour depths much greater than the sum of the individual scours created only by pressure flow or pier presence.

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“…The collapse of bridges inevitably leads to economically losses and not seldom is responsible for human losses. Local scouring around the foundations is the most common bridge failure cause worldwide [1,2]. The presence of a bridge pier leads to the formation of a scour hole, from which entrainment and transport of sediments are influenced by the turbulent structures therein developed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced characterization techniques of the scour hole around a bridge pier model

et al. 2018

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Local scouring around bridge foundations is a major reason for bridge collapse worldwide. It occurs due to the formation of vortices around bridge foundations as a result of changing the unidirectional approach flow into the three-dimensional field in an erodible channel bed, leading to the development of a scour hole in its vicinity. In the present work, two different techniques were applied for a full characterization of the scour hole geometry developed in a sand bed flume experiment by means of a Kinect sensor and a close-range photogrammetry. These advanced survey and sensor technologies offer efficient techniques of deriving point clouds and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), respectively. The potential, limitations and results of both techniques are herein examined and conveniently compared, including a description of measurement devices, reference points and respective software. Reliable and accurate estimates of the topographic representation of the scour hole and inherent features were obtained. The design of the bridge pier used, with a 0.14 m wide rectangular round-nose concrete column (henceforth termed as oblong pier), replicates the typical shape used in the 19th and 20th centuries, and are the most common in Portugal.

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Bridge Failure Rate

Cited by 95 publications

References 13 publications

Historical Analysis of Hydraulic Bridge Collapses in the Continental United States

Historical Analysis of Hydraulic Bridge Collapses in the Continental United States

Bridge pier scour under pressure flow conditions

Advanced characterization techniques of the scour hole around a bridge pier model

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