A comparative study of buried pipeline fragilities using the seismic damage to the Byblos wastewater network

The seismic damage to buried pipelines could be disruptive in terms of safety, life quality, and socioeconomic impacts. In this paper, we investigate the extensive list of available buried pipelines fragilities: we select a series of typical and interesting fragilities in terms of different ground motions, diverse pipeline and soil types typologies and nature (i.e. empirical, analytical); and then we compare the seismic damage results. The aim is to have a palpable overview of the variability of damage results while using different selected buried pipelines fragilities, various ground motion parameters and different hazard scenarios. To achieve this comparative study, the buried pipeline wastewater network of Byblos, Lebanon, is used as a case study. The methodology used to assess damage to the waste-water network encompasses hazard assessment, wastewater network inventory, wastewater damage functions, and model development. The Ergo platform was especially updated by implementing the list of selected fragilities to achieve the damage to wastewater comparison in this article. Results: and recommendations are offered; first for a more adequate usage of those fragilities; second, for improvement of existing and future developed buried pipelines fragility functions; and third, for the Byblos wastewater pipelines network, allowing the establishment of a resilient earthquake preparedness strategy and recovery plan for infrastructure network in Byblos.