United States Department of Transportation
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Improving Transportation Infrastructure Resilience Against Hurricanes, Other Natural Disasters, and Weathering: Part II - Analysis of Pedestrian Bridges Failures Due to Hurricane Maria
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2021-08-01
[PDF-81.68 MB]
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Alternative Title:Improving Transportation Infrastructure Resilience Against Hurricanes, Other Natural Disasters, and Weathering: Part II – Analysis of Pedestrian Bridges Failures Due to Hurricane Maria: Volume 1 [Title from Cover]
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Edition:Final Report, 10/01/2018 – 03/02/2020
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Abstract:After the passage of Hurricane Maria as a strong category 4 storm through Puerto Rico, many different types of structures were affected. The objective of this investigation was to determine whether Hurricane Maria caused damages to pedestrian bridges in Puerto Rico, taking the San Juan Metropolitan Area (SJMA) as a case study. To achieve the project objective, the following tasks were performed: first, a literature review on pedestrian bridges in general was performed; second, several visits were made to the Bridges Office of the Puerto Rico Highway Transportation Authority to search for available information on pedestrian bridges location and condition; third, all the bridges on the SJMA were geolocated; fourth, visits were made to visually inspect the pedestrian bridges; fifth, by comparing the visual inspection findings to the previous inspection findings and old photographs, an assessment of possible damages induced by wind action was performed; and finally, all the documentation process was carried out. It was concluded that, out of the 21 bridges that were inspected, only four could have been affected by Hurricane Maria. It is understood that the main cause of the damages was the presence of traffic signs that were mounted on the bridges. Two of the damaged pedestrian bridges experienced inelastic lateral deflections due to the wind pressure these signs exerted on the bridge structure. On the other two, the transit signs were detached from their bottom supporting bases, probably due to wind induced vibrations; the signs were swinging due to the lack of lower end supports, situation that constituted a safety hazard to the vehicles that passed below the bridge. It is recommended that special considerations are taken when attaching signs to pedestrian bridges and that, after an extreme wind event, preliminary inspections should not only contemplate the main bridge structure, but any flexible elements attached to it. Volume 2 of this project investigates a steel truss pedestrian bridge that experienced permanent lateral deflections due to the hurricane. The main purpose of the research was to determine if the presence of traffic signs mounted on the bridge were the main cause for the inelastic lateral response. A detailed inspection of the bridge was performed, a condition assessment was developed, lab tests were carried out to characterize the material, and FE simulations were executed to capture the response with and without the signs. It was concluded that the signs played a predominant role in the inelastic response, but that there were also other conditions that may have contributed to the plastic deflections.
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