Analysis of macroscopic traffic network impacted by structural damage to bridges from earthquakes

Abstract

Highway systems play a key role in providing mobility to society, especially during emergency situations, including earthquakes. Bridges in highway systems are susceptible to damage from earthquakes, causing traffic capacity loss leading to a serious impact on surrounding areas. To better prepare for such scenarios, it is important to estimate capacity loss and traffic disruptions from earthquakes. For this purpose, a traffic-capacity-analysisbased methodology was developed to model the performance of a transportation network immediately following an earthquake using a macroscopic multi-level urban traffic planning simulation model EMME4. This method employs the second order linear approximation (SOLA) traffic assignment and calculates total system travel time for various capacity loss scenarios due to bridge damage from earthquakes. It has been applied to Pohang City in Korea to evaluate the performance of traffic networks in various situations. The results indicate a significant increase in travel time and a decrease in travel speed as the intensity of an earthquake increases. However, the impact on traffic volume varies depending on the bridges. It is assumed that the location of the bridges and traffic routing patterns might be the main reason. The results are expected to help estimate the impact on transportation networks when earthquakes cause traffic capacity loss on bridges. © 2021 by the authors.