Overview
The FHWA Bridge Security Design Manual provides structural engineers, planners, owners and others effective strategies to design highway bridge systems that are resilient against terrorist threats. These threats have been a growing concern in the U.S. since the 9/11 attacks. While previous infrastructure security research and practice have focused primarily on buildings, bridge-specific design guidance has been limited. This suggests that bridges can be better protected against terrorist threats. “The primary objective of this bridge security design manual is to present state-of-the-art guidance on bridge-specific security planning, extreme loading phenomenology and characterization, and protective design strategies to be used by the highway bridge community in terrorist threat vulnerability assessments of existing bridges, resilient design of new bridge construction, and emergency planning efforts.”
The manual covers a broad range of topics, including security planning, material performance, blast phenomenology, mechanics of structural elements, dynamic response of structures, protective design guidance and example designs for several component types (such as concrete towers), and the use of the software tool, Anti-terrorism Planner for Bridges (ATP-Bridge). It is intended to be a resource for broad audiences to better understand bridge security and a reference tool for designers to build protection into bridges and enable the highway systems they connect to function at a high level under a variety of threats. It makes use of the latest technology and research, including the ATP-Bridge.
Download and read the FHWA Publication lead by Steve Enrst at FHWA and authored by PEC team member Eric Sammarco, Ph.D., P.E. and Eric Williamson, Ph.D., P.E. at The University of Texas at Austin.
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