United States Department of Transportation
i
Feasibility of Tubular Fender Units for Pier Protection against Vessel Collision [Final Report]
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2008-08-01
[PDF-1.06 MB]
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Abstract:Vessel collisions with bridges are increasing at an alarming rate, as heavy vessels are making more frequent trips under more bridges. In the US, rigorous design of bridges for vessel collision was first incorporated by AASHTO Guide Specification and Commentary for Vessel Collision Design of Highway Bridges(1), in which a model to determine vessel collision forces required for designing bridge elements was introduced. The guide, of which portions have been adopted into the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Specifications, does not provide specific guidance for the design of pier protection systems. Given the high number of bridge structures in navigable waterways in the state of Louisiana, bridge pier protection is of concern to the LADOTD. It is desired that bridge fender systems that provide acceptable collision performance be identified. The goal of this project is to identify existing protective systems and propose new systems that can be used to mitigate the effects of bridge/vessel collisions. The focus of the effort is to identify or propose fender systems that are: 1) modular; 2) easily installed or replaced; 3) suitable for retrofitting existing bridges or for use in new construction; 4) crashworthy, i.e. highly damage tolerant with good energy absorption and stiffness characteristics; and 5) durable, with low life-cycle costs. Using a newly proposed multi-tiered performance-based design methodology, the performance of a number of alternative fender systems is evaluated and their suitability for bridge protection examined. The study found that fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) piles arranged in clusters of two piles were shown to provide adequate sideways protection for the low and medium energy performance levels. However, they cannot provide protection for head on collisions for any of the performance levels. For such an application, pier-mounted, energy-absorbing plastic fenders were shown to be suitable for absorbing crash energy and reducing impact forces to acceptable levels. As with vehicle crash cushions that are commercially available and commonly used, the proposed fender systems can be tailored to achieve a wide range of applicability. Additional research is, however, needed to provide proof-of-concept and to engineer a viable and marketable product. It is envisioned that both experimental and computational research will be needed to develop and optimize a system that could be widely adopted in the state of Louisiana and across the country.
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