Author(s): Professor Mohammad Muzzammil; Assistant Professor Nadeem A. Siddiqui

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Keywords: Bridge pier; failure probability; reliability; safety factor; scour

Abstract: The available scour equations for bridge pier are mostly deterministic in nature, which do not consider uncertainties of various scouring parameters adequately. A reliability-based assessment of bridge pier scour depth is of paramount importance in examining the relationship between safety factor and reliability, which are considered to be key parameters for decision-making in bridge foundation design. A methodology for the reliability assessment of bridge pier scour in non-uniform sediments are presented using the First Order Reliability Method (FORM). To study the influence of various random variables on the pier reliability against the scouring, a sensitivity analysis was carried out. To achieve a desirable safety level in the design of pier foundation, reliability-based safety factors are also proposed. The influence of the correlation among the random variables on the pier reliability was also assessed.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2009.9522008

Year: 2009