Development of a Safety Inspection Methodology for River Bridges

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, İnşaat Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2006

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: Aysu Berk

Danışman: Ali Melih Yanmaz

Özet:

River bridges get damaged or even collapse because of various reasons, such as development of adverse hydraulic conditions during severe floods, disastrous earthquakes, deficiencies in structural and geotechnical design, material deficiencies, or other unexpected external factors. Failure of service at vital lifelines, bridges, can lead to loss of several lives and properties, traffic disruption, and/or deficiencies in daily usage. Existing structures should be monitored periodically for decision-making and necessary protective works should be implemented to increase the safety. Types of items to be inspected would be categorized as structural, geotechnical, hydraulic, and status of materials. Requirement for periodic inspections and the ways of handling these activities are discussed within the framework of aforementioned aspects with special reference to the current situation of river bridges in Turkey and current practices in USA. An algorithm, composed of sets of checklists, is proposed. In such an algorithm, rank-based prioritization of events is identified. The evaluation and interpretation are displayed with the help of a few case studies, selected among several river bridges around Ankara.