A Comprehensive Framework for Evaluating Bridge Resilience: Safety, Social, Environmental, and Economic Perspectives

Abstract

Bridges are critical components of transportation systems and are susceptible to various natural and man-made disasters throughout their lifecycle. With the rapid development of the transportation industry, the frequency of vehicle-induced disasters has been steadily increasing. These incidents not only result in structural damage to bridges but also have the potential to cause traffic interruptions, weaken social service functions, and impose significant economic losses. In recent years, research on resilience has become a new focus in civil engineering disaster prevention and mitigation. This study proposes a concept of generalized bridge resilience and presents an evaluation framework for cable-stayed bridges under disasters. The framework includes a resilience evaluation indicator system from multiple dimensions, including safety, society, environment, and economy, which facilitates the dynamic and comprehensive control of bridge resilience throughout its entire lifecycle with the ultimate goals of enhancing structural safety and economic efficiency while promoting the development of environmentally friendly structural ecosystems. Furthermore, considering the influence of recovery speed, the study evaluates various repair strategies through resilience assessment, revealing the applicable environments and conditions for different repair strategies. This methodology offers significant implications for enhancing the safety, efficiency, and environmental sustainability of infrastructure systems, providing valuable guidance for future research in this field.