Experimental investigation of the effects of contraction on tsunami-induced forces and pressures on a box section bridge

Many bridges that lie within possible tsunami inundation zones are critical links in transport networks. Some efforts have been made to determine the effects of tsunamis on bridges, but only a limited range of published design guidelines are available. Therefore, it is necessary to further investigate the effects of tsunamis on bridges. In the current study, physical modeling experiments were carried out to measure bore impact forces and pressures for various tsunami bore strengths on a bridge deck with different abutment types (wing wall and spill-through) and different opening and submergence ratios. The experiments were conducted in a wave flume with dimensions of 14 × 1.2 × 0.8 m (length × width × height), equipped with an automatic gate designed to generate a tsunami bore. The horizontal and vertical forces showed an increasing trend with increasing submergence ratio for both types of abutment. However, the horizontal force showed a decreasing trend as the opening ratio decreased, while the vertical force initially increased as the opening ratio decreased, until it reached a peak value, and then it started to decrease. The overall shapes of the results for both types of abutment are similar, with higher values for spill-through abutments due to their lower energy dissipation rates. Based on the experimental data, empirical equations are proposed for estimation of tsunami loads as a function of opening and submergence ratios.