Vulnerability assessment for the hazards of crosswinds when vehicles cross a bridge deck

•An assessment procedure is proposed for vehicle safety when encountering crosswinds while crossing a bridge deck.•Long-term wind velocity and direction data for a given bridge site are utilized in the assessment.•The effects of vehicle type and speed and loading lanes are investigated.•The effects of bridge layout and deck shape are implemented in the assessment.•Wind profiles for each of the traffic lanes are assessed via section-model wind tunnel tests.

A new procedure to assess the crosswind hazard of operating a vehicle over a bridge deck has been developed using a probabilistic approach that utilizes long-term wind data at bridge sites as well as the aerodynamic properties of bridge decks and vehicles. The proposed procedure for safety assessment considers the probabilities of two accident types: sideslip and overturning. The vulnerability of vehicles to crosswinds is represented by the number of days for traffic control that would be required to secure vehicle safety over a period of one year. The distribution of wind speed over a bridge deck was estimated from a section model wind tunnel test. A sea-crossing bridge was selected as an example, and a series of case studies were performed to identify the influential factors affecting vehicle vulnerability to crosswinds: vehicle type and loaded weight, the position of a running vehicle over a bridge deck, the bridge alignment relative to the dominant wind direction, and vehicle speed.