Understanding of Bridge Vulnerability to Climate Change Enables Pro-active Adaptation Measures

In the past few decades, climate change has been leading to more severe extreme weather (e.g., hurricanes and heat waves), quicker sea-level rise, and more frequent flooding in coastal regions. Bridges in coastal regions are vulnerable to hurricanes, sea-level rise, and flooding. To mitigate these threats, to increase the resilience of bridges, and to take pro-active adaptation measures, the overarching goal of this research project is to understand the vulnerability of highway bridges to climate change. This will inform decision-makers when they develop near-term measures and long-term plans for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

With higher water level, under more frequent and very intense hurricanes, how will existing highway bridges perform and how should new highway bridges be designed to accommodate future climate change? This project will address these questions by: 1) Improving the loading calculation on a highway bridge during a hurricane by considering the wind-wave interaction; 2) Determining the failure modes of the bridge system by considering loading induced by all factors, including wind pressure from winds, wave surge from waves, and varying hydraulic force from flooding; 3) Predict the change of structural vulnerabilities of the bridge based on the projection of future climate change. This will be achieved through multi-phase, multi-physics computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.

The expected results and products will be a numerical model to accurately predict the dynamic loading induced by hurricanes on bridges, with sea-level rise and coastal morphology considered. The obtained results can be used to improve the AASHTO Bridge Design Specifications periodically to accommodate future climate change, enhancing the resilience of bridges. The obtained design hydrodynamic loads can also be used to evaluate the vulnerability of existing bridges, and to develop a reinforcing strategy for existing bridges to adapt to future climate change.

Download the Final Report