Observations and Trends among Collapsed Bridges in New York State
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 31, Issue 4
Abstract
A collection of condition and appraisal ratings of bridges prior to collapse is presented and analyzed to show commonalities among collapsed bridges in New York State. General observations of bridge collapses are presented in addition to select consequences. Bridge inspection data are collected for the most recent inspection dates prior to the collapse of each collapsed bridge. Trends obtained from statistical analysis of existing data show 45 (46%) of collapsed bridges were structurally deficient prior to collapse, and a collapse rate of structurally deficient bridges is estimated to be annually. Age and structural deficiency are shown to be related. Structural deficiency and collapse are shown to be related. Age of structure at the time of collapse is contingent on collapse cause. Deterioration-caused and overload-caused bridge collapses are age related, but hydraulic-caused and collision-caused bridge collapses have no age-determined relationship. Fifty-seven percent of hydraulic-caused bridge collapses had a scour vulnerability rating that indicated the foundations were stable for calculated scour and scour conditions. Collision-caused bridge collapses appear to be contingent on the vertical clearance: roughly 90% of bridges analyzed had a vertical clearance less than 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in.). Overload-caused bridge collapses have a relationship with the bridge being load restricted. The overload-caused collapse rate for a bridge that is load restricted is estimated to be annually. Life loss is associated with 5% of bridge collapses, most of which are collision-caused. The majority of bridge collapses have low consequences related to life loss, average daily traffic, and detour length.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Many ideas in this publication were developed under the support of a subcontract from Rutgers University, Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT), under DTFH61-08-C-00005 from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (USDOT-FHWA). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Rutgers University or those of the U.S. Department of Transportation-Federal Highway Administration.
References
AASHTO. (2010). “LRFD bridge design specifications.” Washington, DC.
Bulleit, W. M. (2008). “Uncertainty in structural engineering. practical periodical on structural.” Des. Constr., 13(1), 24–30.
Cook, W., Barr, P. J., and Halling, M. W. (2015). “Bridge failure rate.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 29(3), 1–8.
Diaz, E. E., Moreno, F., and Mohammadi, J. (2009). “Investigation of common causes of bridge collapse in Colombia.” Pract. Period. Struct. Des. Constr., 194–200.
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration). (1995). “Recording and coding for the structure inventory and appraisal of the nation’s bridges.”, Washington, DC.
FHWA (Federal Highway Administration). (2015). “NBI ASCII files.” ⟨http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/ascii.cfm⟩ (May 11, 2015).
Fu, Z., Ji, B., Cheng, M., and Maeno, H. (2012). “Statistical analysis of the causes of bridge collapse in China.” Forensic Eng., 75–83.
Hao, S. (2010). “I-35W bridge collapse.” J. Bridge Eng., 608–614.
Imhof, D. (2005). “Risk assessment of existing bridge structures.” Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K.
Lee, G. C., Mohan, S. B., Huang, C., and Fard, B. N. (2013). “A study of U.S. bridge failures (1980–2012).”, State Univ. of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.
McClure, S., and Daniell, K. (2010). “Development of a user-friendly software application for extracting information from national bridge inventory source files.” Transportation Research Board, National Academies, Washington, DC.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). (2015). “Flooding in New York.” ⟨www.weather.gov.⟩ (Jul. 30, 2015).
NYSDOT (New York State Department of Transportation). (2004). “Bridge safety assurance: Hydraulic vulnerability manual.” Albany, NY.
Pate-Cornell, M. E. (1996). “Uncertainties in risk analysis: Six levels of treatment.” J. Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf., 54(2–3), 95–111.
SABIS (Special Application Bridge Information System) [Computer software]. New Mexico Dept. of Transportation, Albuquerque, NM.
Sundararajan, C. R. (1995). Probabilistic structural mechanics handbook: Theory and industrial applications, Chapman and Hall, New York.
Wardhana, K., and Hadipriono, F. C. (2003). “Analysis of recent bridge failures in the United States.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 144–150.
Wilson, J. (2003). Allision involving the M/V Brownwater V and the Queen Isabella Causeway bridge, U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, DC.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 31 • Issue 4 • August 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 9, 2016
Accepted: Oct 17, 2016
Published online: Feb 11, 2017
Discussion open until: Jul 11, 2017
Published in print: Aug 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.