"Final Report - Data-Driven Risk-Informed Bridge Asset Management and P" by Iris Tien and Yijian Zhang
 

Abstract

This project aims to transform inspection data into risk-informed decision-making, leading to two main advancements. First, a new method is developed to account for the combined effect of soil stress history and scour hole on laterally and axially loaded piles in sand and clay. The methodology is validated with results from field tests for no-scour scenarios and verified with numerical models for scour scenarios. Quantification of the soil effects is investigated through lateral pile deflection and load-settlement curves for lateral and axial behaviors, respectively. Stress history increases up to 34.1% and 61.1% in estimated pile settlement for sand and clay, respectively, leading to potential unconservative designs if soil effects are not properly included in the analysis. Second, a new approach is developed to account for the impact of stress history in layered soils for seismic vulnerability assessment of scoured bridges. The so-called equivalent stress history and layered effects approach is to capture the impact of soil stress history of layered soils. Rather than assuming homogeneous soil deposits, the methodology enables analysis of bridges located in typically layered soil profiles. This approach utilizes conservation of strength and mass to derive corresponding soil and depth parameters. Neglecting stress history impacts in layered soils can lead to an underestimation of the single pile axial displacements by up to 35% in static analysis, and underestimation of the probability of exceeding bridge deck deflection thresholds by up to 25% in seismic fragility assessment. The work demonstrates the importance of including these soil effects in the assessment of bridges vulnerable to scour.

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Research Center/Lab(s)

INSPIRE - University Transportation Center

Sponsor(s)

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590

Comments

Principal Investigator: Iris Tien, Ph. D.

Grant #: USDOT # 69A3551747126

Grant Period: 11/30/2016 - 09/30/2024

Project Period: 07/01/2020 - 06/30/2024

This investigation was conducted under the auspices of the INSPIRE University Transportation Center.

Keywords and Phrases

Bridge, Inspection Data, Scour, Layered Soils, Piles, Risk Assessment

Report Number

INSPIRE-021

Document Type

Technical Report

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2025 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

June 30, 2024

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