A comprehensive Bridge Safety Assurance (BSA) program is being implemented in New York State. It provides a system to identify, assess, and evaluate the vulnerability of bridges to catastrophic failures and then implement actions to eliminate or mitigate such vulnerabilities. On the basis of a national survey of bridge failures, six failure modes were identified as being the most significant in terms of the potential damage they can cause to highway bridges in New York State: hydraulic, overload, steel structural details, collision, concrete structural details, and earthquake. The assessment phase of the overall BSA program as it relates to the hydraulic failure mode is described. Specific details of screening, classifying, and rating steps are described, and the current status of these assessment efforts in New York State is presented. Vulnerability-reduction actions that have been implemented as a result of the assessment process to ensure bridge safety against hydraulic failures are described as well. (Author/publisher)
Abstract