Seismic performance assessment of highway bridge networks considering post-disaster traffic demand of a transportation system in emergency conditions

Highway bridge networks (HBN) are one of the critical components of a transportation system that supports the operation of modern society. The traffic-carrying capacity of a transportation system is essential for emergency responses in a catastrophic seismic hazard. In this article, a methodology is proposed to assess the regional seismic performance of HBN considering the post-disaster traffic demand of a transportation system in emergency conditions. First, the framework of the methodology is introduced. Then, topological properties and vulnerability analyses are conducted to understand the connectivity of the HBN and the traffic-carrying capacity of the damaged bridge networks. In addition, traffic flow analysis is employed to consider the traffic situation in an emergency condition. Then, the entropy-right method is adopted to integrate these factors and to assess the importance of each bridge link in an emergency condition. Last, the seismic performance of HBN is also evaluated considering the decrease in the traffic-carrying capacity and the increase in traffic cost after earthquake events. The methodology is demonstrated using a HBN located in San Jose, California.