Multi-Failure Mode Risk Assessment of the Houston/Galveston Bridge System to Hurricane Threats

This research implements the first Houston/Galveston area hurricane risk assessment of bridges for multiple failure modes: bridge deck uplift and bridge scour. Due to recent hurricane damage of bridges, emergency managers need to understand the potential state of the bridge network immediately following a storm for effective mitigation and post-event planning. To that end, this study builds a new database of bridge information necessary for vulnerability modeling, adapts current deterministic models of bridge deck uplift and scour for a probabilistic framework and expands the scour models to include a qualitative estimate for embankment scour. The study area bridges are tested under various hurricane scenario events to reveal the likelihood of damage. Potential applications include retrofit prioritization, real-time spatial damage modeling and better informed preparation. By understanding the risk hurricanes pose to the bridge system, emergency officials can better plan rescue and recovery efforts before a storm impacts the Texas coast.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Engineering

Grantor

Rice University

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Arnold, Candase Dawn

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Padgett, Jamie E.

• Applied sciences
• Civil engineering

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70204

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.rice.edu:1911/70204