Chapter 4: Resilience

This chapter develops the concept of resilience for bridges considering; natural hazards like earthquakes, flooding and climate change; man-made hazards like vehicle impact or war; and operational hazards such as overloading, aging and deterioration. A risk assessment example noting the hazards and risks. It considers a number of bridge failures as examples outlining concepts of resilience such as fragility, functionality and restoration time. The resilience based on the degree of functionality and the time taken to restore lost functionality is considered based on structure and uses, it is noted that users over and under the bridge should be considered. The resilience of a number of bridges are outlined with the Morandi Polcevera viaduct used as an example. Whole life resilience, considering the bridge from construction through operation and maintenance, with gradual deterioration and changing resilience. The concept of resilience is applied to common bridge materials, noting the more highly processed materials like steel and FRP having higher resilience. The chapter ends with some ways to improve resilience, particularly in being prepared. This chapter will assist bridge professionals in addressing the United Nations sustainability goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure.