Multi-hazard (blast, Seismic, Tsunamis, Collision) Resistant Bridge Piers

Bridges are often built in locations susceptible to multiple extreme hazards. Meeting some or all of these constraints drives the development of innovative multi-hazard design concepts. This paper presents the results of research conducted to develop and experimentally validate such multi-hazard bridge pier concepts. The first concept is a pier-bent made of concrete filled steel tube columns. For comparison, the paper summarizes the results of other blast tests on ductile reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers and non-ductile RC bridge piers retrofitted with steel jackets, both designed to be ductile from a seismic design perspective. LS-DYNA finite element results are presented to replicate and validate test results for the concrete filled columns. The second concept is a multi-hazard resistant steel plate shear wall (SPSW) box pier developed to provide satisfactory performance for earthquakes, vehicle collisions, tsunamis or storm surges, and blasts. All analyses show that the proposed concepts have superior multi-hazard performance.