In-Depth Investigation of Seismic Vulnerability of an Aging River Bridge Exposed to Scour

Abstract

The stability and structural performance of aged structures under extreme events are rarely investigated. The severe deterioration in current condition of aged bridges can trigger premature failures under regular floods or even mild earthquakes. A reliable bridge inspection program is required for condition assessment. Currently, Turkey, a seismically active country, does not have a regular bridge inspection program or management systems. This deficiency was highlighted by the collapse of the Caycuma Bridge in 2012, killing 15 people during a regular flood event. The main contribution of this paper is to identify the need for in-depth investigation of aging bridges by integration of bridge inspection data with bridge seismic fragility curves and to address the seismic vulnerability of these bridges with a high level of scour. In this scope, one of the inspected bridges has been selected to determine the loss of seismic load resistance attributable to floods. The investigation has included use of newly developed bridge fragility curves for Turkey and advanced nonlinear analysis