Assessing the Impact of Potential Bridge Collapse on Road Network Vulnerability: a Case Study in Oklahoma

Abstract

is study applied three different measures, which are unweighted increased travel time, increased travel time weighted by traffic flow, and decreased accessibility of cities, to assess the importance of unsafe highway bridges in Oklahoma, United States. The aim of this study is to rank the unsafe highway bridges in Oklahoma using all of the three methods. The results of this study may be suggestive for the determination of periodization of highway bridge maintenance. This study ranked the unsafe highway bridges in Oklahoma using three different methods, which are unweighted increased travel time, increased travel time weighted by traffic flow, and decreased accessibility of cities. Each method focuses on different perspectives of the highway performance. The results can provide useful information for the state and city transportation planners by pointing out the critical bridges that may have the highest negative impact to the state and cities if fail.