Study on Composite Bridge for Emergency Disaster Relief

Study on Composite Bridge for Emergency Disaster Relief

Owing to the recent extreme climate conditions, threats from natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, and earthquakes have increased in Taiwan over the years. Such natural disasters cause damage to bridges, consequently preventing the provision of emergency relief services to communities living in remote areas. In order to provide quick emergency relief, the simple construction of a temporary bridge becomes critical for the transportation of food and medical supplies to disaster areas. While composite materials for footbridges and vehicular traffic applications have been widely used overseas, they are not suitable for disaster relief applications. The objective of this paper is to present a novel bridge structure for a portable, reusable, and lightweight bridge. This paper focuses on the design concept and experimental verification of a temporary composite bridge for disaster relief. Ultimately, it advocates composite bridges for disaster relief applications.