Performance of Bridge Columns Subjected to Blast Loads. II: Results and Recommendations
This article is a reply.
VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLEPublication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 16, Issue 6
Abstract
Guidelines for the design of critical bridge components subjected to blast loads are currently not available to the general bridge engineering community. Historically, however, transportation assets have proven to be attractive targets for terrorists because of their open access, utilization by large numbers of people, symbolic importance, and significance to commerce, in addition to a host of other reasons. To improve the current state of practice, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program sponsored a research project to investigate the response of reinforced concrete bridge columns subjected to blast loads. Part I of this manuscript details the unique experimental program carried out to assess the effects of different design parameters on overall performance under these types of loads. In the current paper, results from the test program are analyzed to identify the design parameters that most significantly influence the performance of blast-loaded reinforced concrete bridge columns. Using the scaled standoff distance as the primary variable to assess threat severity, three separate blast design categories are recommended.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Cooperative Highway Research ProgramNCHRP for providing the financial resources that made this project possible. The authors thank Wagdy Wassef and John Kulicki of Modjeski and Masters for their assistance in developing design guidelines based on the findings of the research program. The opinions expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and they do not necessarily represent those of the sponsor.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 16 • Issue 6 • November 2011
Pages: 703 - 710
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 25, 2010
Accepted: Jan 11, 2011
Published online: Jan 13, 2011
Published in print: Nov 1, 2011
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