Project Information
Link to Latest Report: Final Report
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Background:
In recent years, the central United States has experienced increased seismic activity due to induced earthquakes. States such as Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas historically averaged one to two earthquake of magnitude 3.0 and larger per year, but are now experiencing significantly more. For example, Oklahoma had over 900 earthquakes in 2015 and four earthquakes larger than magnitude 5.0 since 2011. The bridges in these states were, however, originally designed for small seismic loads based on low historic seismic hazard, which has raised concern with state DOTs about the potential impact of increased seismic activity on their bridges. While collapse is unlikely for the induced earthquakes currently observed, they may lead to damage requiring rapid repairs to avoid acute traffic control issues at the affected bridge sites. To reduce impacts to the driving public, accelerated bridge construction (ABC) techniques have been developed over recent years, which may be used for rapid post-earthquake repair of damaged structures, for example accelerated column repair/replacement with carbon fiber wrapping and steel casings.
This continuing education course will provide the bridge community, especially bridge engineers in states impacted by induced seismicity, with the opportunity to learn about (a) the seismic demand due to induced earthquakes, (b) an approach to quantifying the cumulative seismic demand, (c) tools developed through this ABC-UTC project for quickly characterizing the potential impact from the determined cumulative seismic demand, and (d) a brief overview of available accelerated methods to repair/retrofit damaged bridges based on material.
Objective:
The objective of this 1-hour web-based continuing education course is to provide the bridge community with the opportunity to learn how to estimate the cumulative seismic demand on bridges, both accelerated and conventional, due to a large number of small-to-moderate earthquakes and to educate engineers on the potential use of ABC repair/retrofit technologies. The course will provide training on the ABC-UTC Guidelines for Assessing Effect of Frequent, Low-Level Seismic Events. Also, a brief survey of available ABC repair techniques appropriate for cumulatively damaged bridges will be provided.
Scope:
The steps for developing this continuing education course are as follows:
- Organize an in-person workshop at Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) headquarters (Oklahoma City, OK).
- Prepare ~30 slides for the in-person presentation at ODOT, along with a post-workshop questionnaire/survey to solicit feedback.
- Incorporate comments received from ODOT into revised set of slides.
- Record 1-hour continuing education course video, including audio, picture-in-picture, and closed captioning for ADA compliance.
- Submit final video to FIU to be uploaded to the ABC-UTC webpage.
Research Team:
Principal Investigator: Dr. P. Scott Harvey Jr.
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. K.K. “Muralee” Muraleetharan
Research Assistant: Sumangali Sivakumaran
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