Restoration curves for infrastructure: preliminary case study on a bridge in Quebec, Canada

As critical infrastructures, bridges play an important role in the resilience and functionality of the transportation system. Typically, in the aftermath of an earthquake, the restoration process of the impacted region begins. It is vital for bridges to maintain their functionality and serviceability during this period in order to expedite the restoration process. In this regard, restoration functions are used to assess the functionality of bridges in a quantitative manner before an extreme event. This paper presents probabilistic resilience curve for the Chemin des Dalles Bridge (CDB) in Quebec, Canada by incorporating fragility and restoration profiles available in the literature. The CDB is designed according to older design codes, which they may lack seismic detailing, and it could therefore be susceptible to future earthquake damage. The resilience curves obtained were used to quantify the resilience of the CDB. The results indicate that the bridge has a resilient performance in a code-level earthquake. However, in order to improve resiliency in stronger events, the retrofit of vulnerable components should be considered.

Automated summary

As critical infrastructures, bridges play a crucial role in the resilience and functionality of the transportation system. This paper presents a study on the Chemin des Dalles Bridge (CDB) in Quebec, Canada, providing a probabilistic resilience curve to assess its functionality. The results show that the bridge has a resilient performance in code-level earthquakes, but improvements should be made to enhance its resiliency in stronger events.