Popis: |
Most major long span bridges in the United States are vulnerable to terrorism and are inviting targets due to their symbolism and the potential loss of life. To begin addressing this concern, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has initiated a State Pooled Fund Program entitled "Validation of Numerical Modeling and Analysis of Steel Bridge Towers Subjected to Blast Loading". The research program includes a combination of blast testing against scaled steel tower components and parallel numerical computations using a variety of analytical tools. The original objective of this paper was to provide an overview of the research plan and an update of the testing and analytical results to date. Unfortunately, testing schedules have slipped and there are no results to report at the time of this paper preparation. Therefore, this paper will only provide an overview of the research plan. |