Re: Hurricane Standards for Highway Infrastructure?

"Larry Gross" <gross.larry@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Thanks John...
>
>but does, for instance, NCDOT when they build
>bridges/highways near the coast ... size them
>explicitly for hurricane cat standards....
>
>... maybe similiar to inland structures sized
>to withstand 100 year floods?

Not to my knowledge. If there's any criteria it would be based on the
flood event size, not a particular hurricane category. Major
structures are often designed to pass a 100 year flood underneath
them, or to allow it to overtop the roadway on either side of the
bridge itself.

>.. Does NCDOT inventory existing coastline
>structures to designate them as to what
>category hurricane they could likely survive?

They may but I'm not aware of it. We don't have many structures that
would be vulnerable to a storm surge such as what affected the I-10
bridges. The one most known is the Bonner Bridge on the Outer Banks,
and I've heard that a direct hit by a Cat 2 or 3 hurricane would bring
it down due to undermining of the pilings supporting it. The new
structure is proposed to be west of the old bridge to provide more
protection for it, and the entire structure is high enough to allow
any storm surge to pass underneath it.

The Gulf Coast, due to underwater geography, is very susceptible to
very large storm surges from even moderate hurricanes. The water is
very shallow for long distances from the coast, so high winds push
more and more water up onto the shoreline very quickly. The water off
of NC's coast gets deep very quickly, so there is less chance of a
high storm surge event.

John Lansford, PE
--
The unofficial I-26 Construction Webpage:
http://users.vnet.net/lansford/a10/
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Hurricane Standards for Highway Infrastructure?
    ... A Cat 5 hurricane could have a 15' storm surge in one ... but the bridge being right at the entrance to ... that area rarely if ever gets hit be strong (over Cat 3) ...
    (misc.transport.road)
  • Re: Off to the northwest USA
    ... Superdome and the skyliine of the city are in the background. ... Miami Herald | Strong Tropical Storm Jeanne approaches Puerto Rico ... Forum | Hurricane Connections ... Graphic: The low-lying Gulf coast ...
    (sci.med.dentistry)
  • Hurricane Ophelia taunts Carolinas
    ... Just listened to Geraldo totally mutilate *Ocracoke Island *. ... Hurricane Ophelia taunts Carolinas ... wary by the destruction that Katrina caused along the Gulf Coast. ... The storm was more than 200 miles from land with sustained wind of 80 mph, ...
    (alt.true-crime)
  • Bush and FEMA does another Third World response to Hurricane Ike - Two and a half months after H
    ... Texas - A 30-mile scar of debris along the Texas coast ... is FEMA's sluggish response to the 2008 hurricane season. ... Two and a half months after Hurricane Ike blasted the shoreline, ...
    (misc.news.internet.discuss)
  • Re: (NBC) If Louisiana Was Florida
    ... Bush: 'Take this storm very very seriously' ... > "significant damage" as it came ashore on the state's southwestern coast. ... > hurricane before continuing northward. ...
    (rec.music.artists.springsteen)
Loading