State of the Art of Multihazard Design

Abstract

This paper provides perspectives on multihazard engineering in the contemporary structural engineering context in order to frame the breadth and multiple dimensions it encompasses, to summarize recent activities on selected relevant topics, and to highlight possible future directions in research and implementations. A comprehensive overview of all research and points of view on these broad topics is beyond the scope of this paper. Rather, the objective is to provide selected examples to illustrate the nature of the issues and possible solutions, with the understanding that multihazard design is a relatively new endeavor and that the accomplishments in this field for the most part lie ahead. Topics covered include description of the political context that led to multihazard design, review of current return periods and safety indices for various hazards in model design codes, issues related to hazard interaction and cascading effects, considerations for interdependent systems, and structural element optimization to provide multihazard resistance.