Citation

Murthy S, Sinha KC. Civ. Eng. Syst. 1990; 7(1): 36-43.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02630259008970568

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

On the basis of an extensive literature survey a set of factors that affect traffic safety on bridges was identified. These were grouped into three categories: bridge related, approach roadway related and environmentally related. A detailed accident analysis of a selected number of bridges in the state highway system of Indiana was conducted to verify these factors and to obtain insights into bridge accidents. A bridge traffic safety evaluation model was developed based on fuzzy set mathematics and the concept of linguistic variables. All subjective evaluations in the model are represented as fuzzy sets which are then considered as fuzzy numbers for the purpose of calculations. The weighted averages for the fuzzy weights and fuzzy ratings are calculated for each group of contributing factors. These weighted averages are then logically combined to obtain the Bridge Safety Index. The model takes into consideration the cumulative effect of the three groups of contributing factors related to bridge, approach roadway and environmental conditions. The resulting index, which is in the form of a fuzzy set, is transformed into the closest fuzzy number to represent the degree of bridge safety.