Risk Assessment of Wind-Induced Vehicle Accidents on Long-Span Bridges Using Onsite Wind and Traffic Data

Abstract

A systematic approach was proposed to assess vehicle accident risk over sea-crossing bridges under strong winds. The annual frequency of an accident was evaluated as a risk index using the information on daily traffic volumes, the ratio of high-sided vehicles, and the long-term distribution of the speed and direction of the wind at the bridge site. The approach considered the effect that deck shapes and road alignments exert on vehicle stability. The risk index was estimated by accounting for the entire road sections of the examined bridge, including approach spans. The proposed method successfully identified the vulnerable positions along the bridge and the vehicle types. The application on a sea-crossing bridge demonstrated the usefulness of the proposed risk-assessment approach in determining a preferable mitigation strategy with less traffic intervention or minimized windscreen installation by quantitative comparisons between risk indices of several possible measures.