Seismic Design Supported by Structural Health Monitoring: Case Study of Bangabandhu (Jamuna Multipurpose) Bridge, Bangladesh

The Bangabadhu Bridge (originally named Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge) fulfilled a long-cherished dream of the people of Bangladesh through connecting the eastern and western parts of Bangladesh. The 5 km long bridge had immense economic and strategic importance for the whole country as the first road and rail link between the two regions. Being in a seismically active region the bridge is subjected to possible moderate to strong earthquakes from a number of sources nearby. The seismic design philosophy provided protection of the continuous concrete deck by adopting energy dissipating devices with yielding steel elements at selected interfaces with substructure. Displacement restraints in the transverse direction were implemented at locations to prevent unseating. While the design provided robust arrangement for limiting damage and reasonably quick restoration of functionality, it relies on continuous monitoring and recording response during earthquakes for condition assessment of the structure and possible damage detection. Strong motion instruments were installed on and near the bridge to record seismic shaking as well as response of the bridge to ground motions. This Paper describes design provisions and seismic resilience of the bridge. Instrumentation planning following analysis of expected performance is explained. Sample results are presented to justify the necessity and usefulness of the scheme.