Coastal Bridges under Hurricane Stresses along the Texas and Louisiana Coast

While the United States (US) has made a significant investment to mitigate the risk of earthquakes, the investments to improve resiliency to hurricanes has lagged significantly. According to estimates by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the annualized cost of hurricane damage in the US is approximately $10 billion/year; in comparison the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimates earthquake damage to be approximately half that amount. The proposed research addresses this gap by studying methods to mitigate the risk to the transportation network from extreme weather events in one of the most important regions in the country in terms of population, economic activity, and transportation systems. As such, the main objective of this proposal is to develop a high-resolution model capable of simulating the response of bridge structures to hydrodynamic loads for hurricane design conditions (i.e. surge height, wave height, and frequency) expected in the Texas-Louisiana coast. This model will be calibrated using historical data from past hurricanes such as Katrina, and used to evaluate the vulnerability bridge structures in the Texas-Louisiana coast. The implementation phase will consist of developing a guide document for engineering professionals illustrating regions of greatest hazard and bridge support details most vulnerable to failure during large storms.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 17STTSA02

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $120000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747106

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)

  Louisiana State University
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803
• Project Managers:

  Dessouky, Samer

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Texas, San Antonio

  1 UTSA Circle
  San Antonio, TX  United States  78249
• Principal Investigators:

  Matamoros, Adolfo

  Testik, Firat

• Start Date: 20170508
• Expected Completion Date: 20181108
• Actual Completion Date: 20181108
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridges; Climate; Coastal engineering; Hurricanes; Maintenance management; Risk assessment; Structural deterioration and defects
• Identifier Terms: Hurricane Katrina, 2005; Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Program
• Geographic Terms: Louisiana; Texas
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01635022
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747106
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: May 21 2017 1:27PM