Performance of bridges with solid and perforated parapets in resisting tsunami attacks

摘要

Tsunamis have damaged bridges with various configurations to different extents. This paper reports an experimental investigation of the tsunami loads on two types of bridge configurations, namely bridges with solid and perforated parapets. The results reveal that the maximum forces acting on the bridge deck with 60% perforated parapets are about 17% lower than the one with solid parapets. However, the percentage of force reduction is found to be smaller than the percentage of perforation area in the parapets. It is also noted that the perforated parapets in the bridge deck can substantially reduce the tsunami forces acting on it throughout the force time-history. Hence, as far as the horizontal forces are concerned, the experimental results indicate that the bridge with perforation in parapets would suffer less damage as compared to the one with solid parapets because of the smaller energy input into the structure.