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Quantifying bridge resilience

Stevens, Megan (2018) Quantifying bridge resilience. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Stevens_M_2018_Quantifying_bridge_resilience.pdf - Published Version

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Abstract

Deviations in weather patterns have changed the demands facing the nation’s infrastructure. “Extreme” weather events (i.e. those characterized as having a low probability of occurring yet result in a high consequence) are increasing in intensity, frequency, or both. Because these changes are happening on a relatively short timescale, existing probabilistic methods used by engineers to model weather events are increasingly obsolete. The most effective approach for designing structures to resist the effects of unpredictable events is to incorporate principles of resilience into their design. Resilient structures better adapt, quickly recover, and minimize the destructive outcomes of an unpredictable destructive event. In this paper, a method is proposed for rating and quantifying the structural resilience of a bridge. The proposed method specifically focuses on bridges and the relationship between their resilience and structural inputs. To demonstrate the extent of the proposed approach, four distinct bridges are chosen for a comparative case study. Each bridge falls into a category with varying combinations of high and low sufficiency and resilience ratings. Resilience ratings are calculated for each bridge and compared with their sufficiency ratings to demonstrate that high sufficiency is not indicative of high resilience. Both the sufficiency and resilience ratings of bridges should be analyzed separately and in compliment with each other when making decisions related to their design, construction, and maintenance.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement: © Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords: applications; bridge; rating; resileince; structural; sufficiency
Subjects: T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status: Student
Department/Unit: Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations
College of Engineering, Informatics, and Applied Sciences > Civil Engineering, Construction Management and Environmental Engineering
Date Deposited: 26 Sep 2018 19:27
URI: http://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/5291

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