Post-Earthquake Bridge Inspection Guidelines

摘要

This report presents a course of action that can be used by New York State's Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to respond to an earthquake that may have damaged bridges, so that the highway system can be assessed for safety and functionality in an orderly and expeditious manner. If a significant earthquake occurs, maintenance personnel will respond immediately by driving all state highways in the affected area, starting with pre-defined priority routes. They will report their findings to the Resident Engineer (RE) and erect barricades to close damaged bridges. The second phase of the Departments response will consist of detailed bridge inspections. The Regional Structures Engineer (RSE) will mobilize and deploy bridge inspection teams according to preliminary damage assessments and data that are available about the proximity, importance and seismic vulnerability of each structure. A computer program was produced under this project to facilitate the prioritization of inspections: it uses GPS coordinates that are in the bridge inventory to compute the distance from the epicenter to each bridge. Tools needed for implementation of the earthquake response plan are provided and/or described in this report: a process flowchart, clear lines of responsibility, prioritization software, reporting forms, lists of necessary resources, sample photos of damage that might occur, strategies for repairing damaged bridges, and training exercises for staff.