Abstract
For the last ten years, the number of cases of large-scale fires which occur on bridges, tunnels, and underpasses has increased. Such fires cause primary and secondary damage, including loss of human life, traffic congestion, and extensive financial damage. Therefore, a risk grade model and effective response plan need to be established for such cases in order to minimize the social and economic costs of bridge fires. In this study, the hazard factors contributing to bridge fires were selected to apply a risk grade model. A total of 144 bridge fire simulations were performed to calculate a surface temperature based on time by using Fire Dynamics Simulation (FDS). A risk grade in accordance with the degree of surface damage state caused by temperature of bridges was presented, and the mobilization time criteria for fire suppression were proposed. The surface temperatures based on time can be classified according to the vertical clearance and mobilization time criteria for fire suppression. Through the classified maximum surface temperatures based on time for bridges, the risk grade can be estimated according to the degree of surface damage state caused by temperature. In order to evaluate the applicability of the established risk grade model to the actual bridge, the arrival time taken from the bridge to the fire station was calculated through a Geographic Information System (GIS) network analysis, and the grades for actual bridge cases were assessed. The purpose of this bridge fire risk grade model is to establish a disaster prevention strategy based on risk grades and to minimize the subsequent social damage by determining a priori the disaster scale.
Highlights
Fire accidents on bridges mainly occur in enclosed spaces such as the space under the bridge and underpasses and are caused by various factors such as collision of vehicles, collision with combustible materials, and gas explosion from a leaking pipeline attached to the bridge’s structure [1,2,3]
In foreign precedent research, case studies of an actual fire that occurred in bridges such as that on the I-65 Birmingham bridge were used as models to verify the degree of collapse through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in consideration of the fire source, the intensity of the fire source, the location of the fire, and the vertical clearance; response plans were suggested for the bridge fire [9]
Erefore, to minimize damage caused by bridge fires and the subsequent social costs, a pragmatic risk assessment model is needed that can be applied for immediate decisionmaking and response plans
Summary
Fire accidents on bridges mainly occur in enclosed spaces such as the space under the bridge and underpasses and are caused by various factors such as collision of vehicles, collision with combustible materials, and gas explosion from a leaking pipeline attached to the bridge’s structure [1,2,3]. In foreign precedent research, case studies of an actual fire that occurred in bridges such as that on the I-65 Birmingham bridge were used as models to verify the degree of collapse through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in consideration of the fire source, the intensity of the fire source, the location of the fire, and the vertical clearance; response plans were suggested for the bridge fire [9]. Erefore, to minimize damage caused by bridge fires and the subsequent social costs, a pragmatic risk assessment model is needed that can be applied for immediate decisionmaking and response plans. Rough the classified surface temperatures based on time for bridges, the risk grades were determined according to the degree of surface damage state of bridges. E purpose of this bridge fire risk grade model is to establish a disaster prevention strategy based on risk grades and to minimize the subsequent social damage by determining a priori the disaster scale
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