Development of Tsunami Loading Expressions for Design of Coastal Infrastructure

摘要

There is currently no standard in the USA for tsunami design. In January 2011, the AmericanrnSociety of Civil Engineers, ASCE, formed a new subcommittee to develop design provisions forrnTsunami Loads and Effects (TLE). The TLE subcommittee has spent the past three yearsrndeveloping a new chapter for ASCE 7, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and OtherrnStructures. These design provisions are currently under review by the main committee ofrnASCE 7 for potential inclusion in the 2016 edition of the ASCE 7 standard.rnA fundamental requirement for designing coastal structures for tsunamis is an understandingrnof the various loading effects that can develop. This paper outlines some hydrostatic andrnhydrodynamic load conditions that must be considered when designing for tsunamis. Therndesign expressions developed for these loading conditions are based on a significant amountrnof laboratory research, often validated based on full-scale observations and failure analysesrnafter past tsunamis, most notably the March 11, 2011 Tohoku Tsunami in Japan.