Performance of Bridge Columns Subjected to Blast Loads. II: Results and Recommendations

Abstract

Guidelines for the design of critical bridge components subjected to blast loads are currently not available to the general bridge engineering community. Historically, however, transportation assets have proven to be attractive targets for terrorists because of their open access, utilization by large numbers of people, symbolic importance, and significance to commerce, in addition to a host of other reasons. To improve the current state of practice, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program sponsored a research project to investigate the response of reinforced concrete bridge columns subjected to blast loads. Part I of this manuscript details the unique experimental program carried out to assess the effects of different design parameters on overall performance under these types of loads. In the current paper, results from the test program are analyzed to identify the design parameters that most significantly influence the performance of blast-loaded reinforced concrete bridge columns. Using the scaled standoff distance as the primary variable to assess threat severity, three separate blast design categories are recommended.