A new methodology to assess indirect losses in bridges subjected to multiple hazards

Abstract

Modern society and economy rely heavily on bridges, as fundamental links for movement of goods and people. They are extremely vulnerable to multiple hazards that can compromise their functionality, which in turn impacts emergency response and ultimately the socioeconomic recovery of extended regions. In this regard, bridge resilience is a key issue in order to ensure their functionality and the possibility to recover as effectively as possible after damages. Decision-making methodologies have attracted increased attention recently with the aim to facilitate and enhance pre-hazard and post-hazard event mitigation and emergency response strategies of transportation systems and entire communities. Multiple hazards cause direct losses (loss of life and physical loss of the assets) and indirect losses (costs due to required repair actions or to the loss of functionality of the transportation network). The present models generally take into account direct losses only (neglecting indirect losses). In this background, this paper aims to develop a new framework that extends the existing restoration methodologies by considering indirect losses, which is particularly important in order to assess the organizational and social aspects related to the entire community.