Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Fire hazard in bridges: Review, assessment and repair strategies

Maria Garlock a, Ignacio Paya-Zaforteza a,b,⇑, Venkatesh Kodur c, Li Gu c
a
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 0854, USA
b
ICITECH, Departamento de Ingeniería de la Construcción, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46071 Valencia, Spain
c
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, 3580 EB, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents an overview of fire hazard in bridges. A detailed review of actual fire incidents, case
Received 31 March 2011 studies related to fire hazards, and post-fire assessment and repair strategies in bridges is presented and
Revised 4 October 2011 summarized. In doing so, this review points to the importance of fire hazard in bridges, aids practicing
Accepted 2 November 2011
engineers with practical tools for developing strategies for repairing fire damage in bridges and identifies
Available online 7 January 2012
areas where further research is needed.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Bridge
Fire hazard
Fire resistance
Literature review
Assessment and repair strategy

1. Introduction
Fire is one of the most severe hazards to which built-infrastruc-
ture may be subjected during their lifetime. In recent years, due to
rapid development of urban ground transportation systems, as
well as increasing transport of hazardous materials (such as flam-
mable materials, spontaneously combustible and poisonous mate-
rials), bridge fires have become a concern. Therefore, bridge fires
can lead to significant economic and public losses. Traffic on
bridges damaged by fire is usually hard to detour and affects the
traffic quality in the region. Further, a severe fire may lead to per-
manent damage or even collapse of the bridge.
Bridge fire incidents are commonly caused by crashing of vehi-
cles and burning of gasoline in the vicinity of the bridge. These gas-
oline fires, also referred to as hydrocarbon fires, are much more
severe than building fires and are characterized by a fast heating
rate and a higher peak temperature. In these fires, very high tem-
peratures will be attained within the first few minutes. In some
cases, such intense fires can pose a severe threat to structural
members and could lead to bridge collapse.
Provision for appropriate fire safety measures is a major design
requirement in buildings and infrastructure. The main objective of
these fire safety measures is to minimize loss of life and property in
⇑ Corresponding author at: ICITECH, Departamento de Ingeniería de la Construc-
ción, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46071 Valencia,
Spain. Tel.: +34 963877562; fax: +34 963877568.
E-mail addresses: mgarlock@princeton.edu (M. Garlock), igpaza@cst.upv.es
(I. Paya-Zaforteza), kodur@egr.msu.edu (V. Kodur), lensir@egr.msu.edu (L. Gu).
a fire event. For structural members, fire safety objectives are
achieved through fire resistance provisions. Fire resistance is the
duration during which a structural member exhibits acceptable
performance with respect to structural integrity, stability and tem-
perature transmission. While provision for appropriate fire safety
measures is a major design requirement in buildings, essentially
no structural fire safety provision for bridges exists. For example,
the American NFPA 502: Standard for Road Tunnels, Bridges, and
Other Limited Access Highways [1] states that: ‘‘Protection of Struc-
ture – Critical structural members shall be protected from collision
and high-temperature exposure that can result in dangerous weak-
ening or complete collapse of the bridge or elevated highway’’. No
guidance is given on how protect bridges from fires that can result
in ‘‘dangerous weakening or complete collapse’’. Similarly, the
European standard EC-1 part 2 [2] deals with the traffic loads to
be considered in bridges and does not contain any provision re-
lated to how fire hazard should be taken into account in bridge de-
sign. Even European fire related codes such as the EC-1 part 1–2
[3], EC-2 part 1–2 [4], EC-3 part 1–2 [5] and EC-4 part 1–2 [6] omit
bridge fires as they describe ‘‘the thermal and mechanical actions
for the structural design of buildings’’ in the case of [3] and ‘‘prin-
ciples, requirements and rules for the structural design of build-
ings’’ in the case of [4–6].
This paper presents a detailed review of the state-of-the-art
on fire hazard in bridges. Based on the literature review, current
post-fire assessment and repair measures are presented to pro-
vide guidance on evaluating the extent of damage and
procedures for repair. The information presented here aids

0141-0296/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2011.11.002
90 M. Garlock et al. / Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98
practicing engineers and researchers with (1) practical knowl-
edge needed to make fast informed decisions after a bridge fire
event and (2) the identification of areas where further research
is needed.
2. Bridge fire incidents and case studies
To collect information on recent bridge fire incidents and corre-
sponding research, a review of the state-of-the-art is carried out on
defining the bridge fire, bridge fire incidences, bridge fire hazards,
and post-fire assessment and repair, respectively. The post-fire
assessment and repair literature review is provided in Section 3
of this paper.
2.1. Defining the bridge fire
Bridge fires are typically petrol fires, also referred to as hydro-
carbon fires or liquid pool fires, which are characterized by fast
heating rates and can reach very high temperatures within the
first few minutes of fire exposure. A liquid pool fire forms when
a combustible liquid spills on the ground, its liquid begins to
vaporize, and the vapor is ignited. These fires can be divided into
two categories – confined (the spread of the burning liquid is lim-
ited by the presence of a physical barrier) and unconfined (no
physical retraint) (Iqbal et al. [7]). A confined pool fire will burn
longer than an unconfined pool fire, which has a larger surface
area but generates high heat loads only for a short duration.
One of the most important steps required in determining the heat
loading from a liquid pool fire is to calculate the heat release rate
(Iqbal et al. [7], Modak [8], Mudan [9]), which indicates how pow-
erful the fire is. This is an empirically-derived value which is
based on the material properties of the fuel as well as the geom-
etry of the pool (which in turn depends on the flow of leaking
fuel).
Some standard hydrocarbon fire curves for design exist but
have limitations for application to bridges. The American and Euro-
code standard hydrocarbon fires [3,10], exceed 1000 °C within the
first few minutes and continues to increase throughout the fire
duration. This is not realistic since fires will eventually burn-out
their fuel source. There are other fire-temperature curves for
describing the fire hazard associated with petrochemical fuels,
for example the hydrocarbon modified curve (from France),
RABT-ZTV curve (from Germany), and RWS curve (from the Neth-
erlands) [1,11]; but these curves have been developed for tunnels,
which have different oxygen and ventilation conditions than
bridges. Useful information about different vehicle fire scenarios
is given in Barber et al. [12]. Although this study was done for
the Oresund tunnel, the detailed information on fuel characteris-
tics can be used to develop a model for bridge fire scenarios (see
also [13,14]).
Bridge design codes do not provide information about the fire
models to be used in the design of a bridge. Therefore, each re-
searcher or practitioner has developed an approach adapted to
their particular case study. For example, Bennets and Moinuddin
[15] have proposed several fire scenarios to determine the impact
of a heavy truck fire, of a tanker fire, and of a liquefied petroleum
gas (LPG) tanker fire on the cables of a cable stayed bridge. Mendes
et al. [16] have developed a fire model to study the effect of an oil
tanker ship fire under Vasco da Gama Bridge (Portugal) on its
safety. Dotreppe et al. [17] analyzed the collapse of a tied arch sub-
mitted to a severe fire caused by the explosion of a gas pipe by con-
sidering six different fire zones according to the hydrocarbon curve
of the Eurocode 1 part 1–2. Stoddard [18] developed a fire curve
adapted to the scenario of a railroad tanker fire that damaged a
prestressed concrete bridge.
2.2. Bridge fire incidents
In the last two decades, there has been an increase of fire re-
lated accidents in bridges, and some of these fire incidents have
led to collapse. A survey by Battelle [19] reveals that the average
number of annual highway vehicle fire incidents in the US is
376,000, which causes 570 civilian deaths and $1.28 billion of
property losses. When occurring in the vicinity of a bridge, a fire
may heat and weaken the bridge structure as a result of adequate
fuel and oxygen.
The New York Department of Transportation (NYDoT) has con-
ducted a voluntary bridge failure survey in 2008 [20] where 18
state DoTs have responded. Data was collected from 1746 bridge
failures according to the type of bridge, the material (steel, con-
crete, wood), and the cause of failure. Although the vast majority
of bridges (1001) collapsed for hydraulic reasons (scour, flood)
and 520 collapsed due to collision, overload, or deterioration, 52
bridge collapses were due to fire, and only 19 collapses were due
to earthquake (seismic states like California participated in the sur-
vey). However, this survey focused on collapses, but did not collect
the information on the extent of fire induced damage, the extent of
traffic disruption, and the cost of detours and repairs.
Table 1 summarizes some of the major bridge fire incidents in
the past 15 years. Typical events leading to and following a bridge
fire collapse can be illustrated using the example of the MacArthur
Maze collapse in Oakland, USA (Fig. 1). On the morning of April
29th 2007, a tanker carrying 32.6 m3 of gasoline was traveling at
high speed in a 80 km/h zone and overturned and burst into flames
on the I-80/880 interchange in Oakland, California, while passing
under I-580. The high intensity fire resulted in the collapse of
two I-580 spans, which consisted of six welded plate girders sup-
porting a reinforced concrete slab roadway. This multi-level free-
way interchange bridge, known as the MacArthur Maze,
connected several major cities in California. The collapse occurred
about 22 min after the fire started. The federal government spent
more than $9 million to repair the damage, which included $4.3
million for demolishing and removing the section of I-580 and
about $2 million for traffic control [21,22]. It took 26 days to finish
all the construction work and reopen the Maze to the traffic. The
closure of the Maze was estimated to have a total economic impact
to the San Francisco Bay Area of $6 million dollars a day [23].
Typically, the bridge fires result from gasoline tankers crashing
into the bridge or other vehicles in close vicinity of the bridge (see
Table 1). Also, collapses typically occur in less than one-half hour,
which does not leave much time for firefighting response. Even if
no collapse ensues, repairs and detours are costly. Furthermore,
engineers are often uncertain in how to evaluate fire-induced dam-
age and proceed with repairs.
2.3. Previous studies on bridge fire hazards
During the last decade, a few studies have been carried out to
study the impact of fire hazard on bridges. These studies are sum-
marized in Table 2. For example, Mendes et al. [16] undertook a 2D
bridge deck analysis to simulate a ship fire accident in the Vasco da
Gama Bridge in Lisbon, Portugal, which damaged the concrete
decks of the bridge. The cross sectional temperatures resulting
from fire and time to collapse (fire resistance) were studied. They
used three different fire scenarios defined by the geometric charac-
teristics (dimensions, burning rate), the emissive power (thermal
radiation, fuel type), and radiation transfer. The effects of convec-
tion, thermal irradiation, solar radiation, and fire radiation were
also considered in the analysis. They concluded that, under fire
exposure, the anchorage of the bridge is susceptible to serious
damage in 20–30 min, which leads to progressive failure of the
bridge.
 M. Garlock et al. / Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98 91

Table 1
Some major bridge fires in the last 15 years.

Bridge/location Date Cause of fire Bridge material Damage description

Bridge over I-75 July 15, A gasoline tanker struck an Composite deck (steel Complete collapse of the bridge, which fell on the
near Hazel Park, 2009 overpass on I-75 girders + reinforced concrete freeway below
MI, USA slab)
Big Four Bridge, May 7, Electrical problem of the lighting Steel truss bridge Minor structural damage, resulting in large amount of
Louisville, KY, 2008 system, took two and a half hours debris on the bridge
USA to control the fire
Stop Thirty Road, June 20, A fuel tanker truck rear-ended a Concrete hollow box-beam The bridge sustained very little damage and traffic was
State Route 386 2007 loaded dump truck. The tanker bridge reopened after minor repairs
Nashville, TN, erupted into flames beneath the
USA bridge
I-80/880 April 29, A gasoline tanker crashed Composite deck (steel A 160 m section of the interchange collapsed
interchange in 2007 girders + reinforced concrete
Oakland, CA, USA slab) supported by reinforced
concrete columns
Bill Williams River June 20, A gasoline tanker over-turned Concrete deck (precast Concrete girders were damaged by the fire and
Bridge, AZ, USA 2007 prestressed I girders + cast in subsequently repaired, but it was not necessary to
place reinforced concrete slab) replace any of the girders
Belle Isle Bridge in January A truck crashed into the bridge Concrete deck (precast Concrete girders were slightly damaged by the fire. The
NW Expressway, 28, 2006 prestressed I girders + cast in safety of the bridge was assessed and the bridge was
Oklahoma City, place reinforced concrete slab) reopened to traffic
OK, USA
Wiehltalbridge in August Following an accident, a gasoline Orthotropic steel deck supported Web buckiling in one of the main girders of the bridge
motorway A4, 26, 2004 tanker fell down and started a fire in concrete piers and abutments that experienced maximum displacements of ±120 mm
Cologne-Olpe, under the first bridge span and local plastic deformations in the cantilevering part of
Germany the steel deck
Bridge over the July 12, A tanker truck carrying 30.3 m3 of Concrete deck (precast The deck was replaced by a new one but its beams were
Norwalk River 2005 gasoline overturned, caught fire, prestressed box girders + cast in tested by the FHWA
near Ridgefield, and burned out on the bridge place reinforced concrete slab)
CT, USA
I-95 Howard March A car struck a truck carrying Composite deck (steel Collapse of the southbound lanes and partial collapse of
Avenue Overpass 26, 2003 30.3 m3 of heating oil girders + reinforced concrete the Northbound lanes
in Bridgeport, CT, slab)
USA
I-20/I-59/I-65 January A loaded gasoline tanker crashed Steel girders Main span sagged about 3 m (10 feet)
interchange in 5, 2002
Birmingham, AL,
USA
I-80W/I-580E ramp February A gasoline tanker crashed Composite deck (steel Deck, guardrail and some ancillary facilities were
in Emeryville, CA, 5, 1995 girders + reinforced concrete damaged
USA slab)

Fig. 1. Oakland highway bridge collapse in California, 2007. Photograph by Robert
Campbell, printed with permission.
Dotreppe et al. [17] performed a numerical analysis using com-
puter program SAFIR [31] to simulate the collapse of the Vivegnis
Bridge in Belgium as a result of a fire accident. Severe localized fire
occurred at one of the bridge foot due to a gas pipe explosion. 3D
beam elements were used to model main girders, cross girders, con-
crete slab, arches, while bracings and the suspenders were modeled
using truss elements. The model accounted for large displacements
and high temperature material properties. A transient structural
analysis was carried out using the hydrocarbon temperature-time
curve defined in Eurocode [3]. Both the collapse time and the failure
mode showed good agreement with the field observations.
Nigro et al. [26] studied the thermo-mechanical behavior of
reinforced concrete bridge deck slabs 0.15 or 0.20 m thick
strengthened with externally bonded fiber reinforced polymers
(FRP) considering the thermal states caused by two possible situa-
tions: (a) the asphalt paving of the bridge, which has an asphalt
temperature of 180 °C and (b) a fire event over the bridge deck
due to a vehicular accident. In this latter case the outside environ-
ment fire curve of EC-1 part 1–2 [3], was considered although pro-
visions of this standard relate to buildings and not to bridges as
previously explained. The paper concluded that (a) the use of
‘‘heat-resistant’’ adhesive resin is recommended for slab thickness
lower than 20 cm and (b) in addition, if the FRP strengthening is lo-
cated on the top of the slab, an insulating layer (concrete with ex-
panded-clay) of thickness bigger than 4 cm is necessary to avoid
damaging the FRP-strengthening.
Eisel et al. [27] describe the studies and the measures under-
taken for the reopening of the Wiehltalbridge after a fire caused
by an accident of a tanker carrying 33 m3 of fuel. The studies in-
cluded material tests as well as a numerical simulation of the fire
using computational fluid dynamics. The flames of the fire reached
temperatures of 1200 °C but damage to the bridge was limited be-
cause, due to ventilation, maximum surface temperature of the
steel plates was about 500 °C.
Kodur et al. [29] carried out a case study to illustrate the fire
performance of a girder of a steel–concrete composite bridge using
92 M. Garlock et al. / Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98

Table 2
Case studies of structural assessment of fire damaged bridges with advanced thermal and/or structural analysis models.

Authors Bridge/location Structural system Bridge material Type of study

Mendes et al. [16] Vasco da Gama Cable-stayed bridge Reinforced concrete The cross section temperatures and time to collapse (fire
Bridge/Portugal resistance), were studied
Roche [24] Changi Airport Flat arch Welded tubular steel The paper describes the structural analysis of a footbridge
Mezzanine Bridge/ sections. The bridge has a located at the interior of an airport terminal. Its design
Singapore glass cladding paid a special attention to the behavior of the bridge under
fire loading using a performance based approach
Dotreppe et al. [17] Vivegnis Bridge/ Tied arch (bow string) Steel arch and steel plus The bridge collapsed after the explosion of a gas pipe. The
near Liège, concrete deck paper compares the real collapse with the results deduced
Belgium from numerical simulations performed with SAFIR
Alnahhal et al. [25] Bridge over Simply supported, Fiber reinforced polymer A fully coupled thermal-stress analyses were conducted
Bentley Creek/ single-span truss bridge (FRP) for the deck, steel for using the software Abaqus to predict the failure
Wellsburg, New the trusses elements mechanisms and the fire safety of the superstructure
York under extreme thermal loading conditions
Nigro et al. [26] Hypothetical Reinforced concrete slab Reinforced concrete The effects of two scenarios causing high deck
deck Strengthened with externally temperatures are analyzed and guidelines to avoid the
bonded FRP reinforcement failure of the FRP strengthening are proposed. Fires-T3
Finite Element software was used for the thermal analysis
and an iterative procedure was developed to check
the.ultimate bearing capacity of FRP strengthened
reinforced concrete members in flexure
Eisel et al. [27] Wiehltalbridge/ Continuous orthotropic Steel for the deck; concrete Part of the first span of the deck was submitted to a severe
motorway A4, deck supported in for the piers fire caused by the fall of a fuel tanker. The paper describes
Cologne-Olpe in concrete piers and the assessment and repair of the bridge as well as the
Germany abutments measures undertaken for its reopening
Choi [28] I-80/880 Composite deck (steel Composite deck (steel The author performs a 3D thermomechanical analysis of
interchange/ girders + RC slab) girders + RC slab) supported the behavior of the bridge during the fire that destroyed
Oakland, CA by reinforced concrete part of the deck
columns
Bennetts and Hypothetical Cable stayed bridge Steel The effects of 3 different fire scenarios on the stays and the
Moinuddin [15] unprotected tower of a theoretical cable stayed bridge is
studied. Times to failure of the stays and the tower are
given for different ratios of applied load to ultimate
strength. Protected and unprotected cables are considered
Kodur et al. [29] Hypothetical Steel plate girder Steel A 49 m span highway overpass bridge was studied for the
effects of fire protection, which significantly affects results
Payá-Zaforteza and Hypothetical Simply supported deck Steel girders supporting a RC A 3D thermomechanical analysis of the bridge under a
Garlock [30] designed by the FHWA slab. The slab is not hydrocarbon fire considering different live loads and
structurally connected to the boundary conditions is carried out. Times to collapse are
girders always below 10 min

computer program SAFIR [31]. Both an unprotected steel girder
and a steel girder protected with fire insulation (12 mm) were ana-
lyzed by idealizing the girder as a set of beam elements. Realistic
conditions presented in typical bridges, such as loading condition,
fire scenarios and high temperature material properties were con-
sidered in the analysis. The case study assumes that a petrol tanker
has crashed under a roadway bridge causing a severe fire, which
heats the bottom of the bridge at midspan, as shown in Fig. 2.
Uncoupled thermal-structural analyses indicate that the unpro-
tected steel girder develops a plastic hinge, which leads to deflec-
tion runaway and collapse in less than 30 min. On the other hand,
the protected bridge performed well under fire and no failure re-
sulted since the insulated girder did not lose much strength.
Payá-Zaforteza and Garlock [30] studied a 12.20 m simply sup-
ported bridge designed by the Federal Highway Administration of
the United States of America. The cross section of the bridge has
five steel girders supporting a reinforced concrete slab, which
was not structurally connected to the girders. As illustrated in
Fig. 3, a 3D model of the bridge was built with the commercial soft-
ware Lusas [32] using solid elements, and was subjected to a
hydrocarbon design fire that could be caused, for example, by the
crash or the overturning of a gasoline tanker. The structural re-
sponse to such a fire was studied by varying the magnitude of grav-
ity load (dead and live) and the axial restraint (fixed or free).
Results show that the times to failure of the bridge are very small
(less than 10 min in all the cases analyzed) and are essentially not
influenced by the amount of live load. Furthermore, horizontal dis-
placements of the bridge are big enough to require the consider-
ation of the interaction between the bridge deck and the
adjacent span or abutment.
3. Post-fire assessment and repair
A post-fire assessment and repair strategy for bridges is
needed to: (1) evaluate the fire induced bridge damage, (2) deter-
mine the serviceability of the bridge following the fire, and (3)
develop repair techniques. To date, there is no comprehensive
document that addresses this needed strategy. This section of
the paper summarizes assessment and repair strategies used in
case studies such as those listed in Table 3. It provides an engi-
neer with information on methodologies used, and an extensive
resource of references. Since fire performance is highly dependent
on the material type used in the bridge, this paper considers
bridges built of concrete and steel materials (including pre-
stressed concrete).
3.1. Steel bridges
Tide [39] provides a summary for evaluating the strength prop-
erties of fire exposed structural steel. While most of his research
 M. Garlock et al. / Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98 93

Fig. 2. Layout and cross-section of the bridge in analysis.

Fig. 3. Views of the equivalent strains, e, at the moment of collapse: (a) mid-span yielding for the analyses that are free to expand; and (b) web and bottom flange yielding
near the supports for the analyses that are fixed from expanding. Strains in marked areas are bigger than 0.02.

and writing is based on fire induced damage in buildings, it can be
extended to bridges as well. He concluded that heat-treated
strength alloy steels, which are seldom used in buildings but are
sometimes used in bridges, require special consideration. Research
is needed to determine if the concepts that he presents should be
reconsidered and revised in such a case. Tide’s evaluation is rooted
in knowledge of basic steel production, thermal cutting, thermal or
mechanical straightening, heat treating, and welding. In addition,
some recommendations and guidelines are provided by Smith
et al. [40], Shanafelt and Horn [41], Avent [42] and Wright and
Cayes [43].
Visual evaluation is the most effective and reliable means to as-
sess the extent of fire damage. Tide [39] indicates that data gener-
ated based on non-destructive and destructive testing techniques,
which can assess the hardness, tensile strength, yield strength,
residual stresses, and toughness, may not be applicable for fire ex-
posed structures. This is because many of these properties vary
even at ambient temperature, and hence unless pre-fire data is
available, the test results are generally inconclusive. However, Tide
[39] recommended that it is ‘‘prudent to initially obtain a small
sample of destructive test specimens . . . and control samples from
outside the fire zone.’’
The visual inspection that can be carried out is generally based
on geometry (deflections, buckling, etc.), steel material appear-
ance, and integrity of the connections. The visual inspection can
provide some indication as to the approximate temperatures that
were reached in the steel member. Steel undergoes a phase change
at about 721 °C, so if the temperature remains less than that, one
can assume that there was no major impact on the mechanical
properties. If the mill scale is tightly adhered (e.g. cannot scratch
it off with your finger nail), the steel temperature was likely less
than 650 °C. If the steel is coarse and eroded, that is different than
the appearance produced by mill rolling, then the temperature was
likely to be larger than 650 °C (Dill et al. [44]).
In addition to the member, the connections should be inspected
and can provide clues to the extent of fire damage and tempera-
tures reached. Experimental studies on steel bolts (Wakiyama
et al. [45], Kirby et al. [46]) indicate that exposure to temperatures
94 M. Garlock et al. / Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98

Table 3
Case studies related to the structural assessment of fire damaged bridges.

Authors Bridge/location Structure Bridge material Type of study

Wardle and Lucas [33]
Boam and Cropper [34]
Cabrita et al. [35]
Stoddard [18]
Ballim and Silbernagl [36]
Melewski et al. [37]
Davis et al. [38]
Britannia Bridge/Menai Continuous Wrought iron for the deck The bridge suffered a severe fire in 1970. It was
Street, United Kingdom tubular girder rebuilt as an arch bridge, although the original
on stone piers piers remain intact. The paper studies the stresses
in the original girder before and after the fire as
well as its loading capacity
One of the bridges of Cellular box Reinforced concrete for both The bridge suffered a fire in 1991 as a result of the
the Gravelly Hill beam deck and piers collision of a petrol tanker carrying 33,000 l of fuel
Interchange/ against the substructure of the bridge. The
Birmingham, United investigation comprised of a visual survey, the
Kingdom extraction of concrete cores and samples of the
exposed reinforcement and an ultrasonic pulse
velocity survey. The deck affected by the fire was
replaced by a composite structure (steel
beams + cast in situ slab)
S. Lourenço Bridge, the Different types Prestressed concrete The authors analyze the effects of three formwork
Granja River Br. & of concrete fires and explain the assessment of the decks of
Campolide Viaduct/ bridges the bridges. This evaluation included visual
Portugal inspection, material testing and thermal analysis
– Continuous Prestressed and reinforced An extensive research program was undertaken to
prestressed I- concrete for the deck; assess the state of the bridge. This program
girders w/ reinforced conc. for the piers include a visual inspection, hardness testing with
reinforced conc. the Schmidt Hammer, an evaluation of the
slab prestressing steel condition and a petrographic
evaluation of the concrete. The deck was replaced
by a new one and the piers repaired
Empire Road Bridge/M1 Continuous Prestressed concrete for the Part of the deck of the bridge suffered a fire in
motorway, post-tensioned deck 2002 as a result of the crash of an articulated fuel
Johannesburg, South box girder tanker with a side barrier. Assessment included a
Africa visual inspection, the testing of concrete samples
taken from the deck, the use of optical microscopy
and a load test
Poughkeepsie Railroad Continuous Steel deck supported by steel The bridge suffered a fire in 1974 that rendered it
Bridge over the Hudson truss bridge and masonry piers unusable for railroad traffic. To certify its integrity
River/ and to reopen the bridge as a public park and
walkway. The assessment concluded that (a)
many secondary members had significant
deterioration (b) primary members were in fair
condition (15–20% of section loss) and (c) the level
of deterioration did not affect the capability of the
bridge to carry the new loads
Bill Williams River Simply Concrete deck (prestressed The bridge suffered a fire in 2006. Assessment
Bridge/SR 95 milepost supported girders + cast in place included a visual inspection, material testing
161.73 in Arizona beams reinforced conc. slab) (compressive strength of the concrete of the piers,
supported by reinforced conc. deck and barriers; petrographic analysis) and a
piers load rating analysis of the deck

below 650 °C do not affect bolt properties and the bolt remains
essentially undeformed. Evaluation of weld metal subject to fire
can be treated the same way as the base metal. Tide [39] indicates
that the temperatures reached in a fire are comparable to that used
in post-weld heat treatment commonly used by the pressure vessel
industry.
Tide [39] suggests categorizing the steel structural members
based on a visual inspection as follows:
 Category 1: A steel structural member that is essentially
straight and appears unaffected by the fire. This includes members
with slight deformations not easily detected with the eye. Prior to
reaching a phase change temperature of 721 °C, the steel member
would have exhibited buckling or large deflections. Therefore it can
be assumed that a member that remains essentially straight was
not affected by the heat.
 Category 2: A fire exposed steel structural member that is
noticeably deformed but could be heat straightened (if economi-
cally justified). It is possible for buckling and large deformations
to develop below the phase change temperature so the heat effect
on the material is not clear. A visual inspection of the steel surface
will provide some indication as described earlier. Experience
gained from heat treating reinforces – even today – a statement
made by Dill in 1960 [44]: ’’Steel which has been through a fire
but which can be made dimensionally reusable by straightening
with the methods that are available may be continued in use with
full expectance of performance in accordance with its specified
mechanical properties.’’
 Category 3: A fire exposed steel structural member that is
severely deformed. If the member is so severely deformed, it is
usually more economical to replace the member than salvage it
and the assessment of residual material properties of steel
becomes irrelevant.
NCHRP report 271 by Shanafelt and Horn [41] recommended
one of three decisions to be made: (1) do nothing, (2) repair the
member, or (3) replace the member, after the assessment. We rec-
ommend that if the assessment falls in Category 1, one must decide
whether leave the member as is or undertake minimal repairs. If
the assessment falls in Categories 2 or 3, then the decision must
be made to repair or replace. Shanafelt and Horn [41] provide some
guidelines for the selection of repair methods (the NCHRP report
includes, but is not limited to, fire). For example flame straighten-
ing and hot mechanical straightening are recommended for
 M. Garlock et al. / Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98
undertaking repair. Both, Shanafelt and Horn [41] and FHWA [47]
provide guidelines as to the repair process.
3.2. Concrete bridges
Published literature and standards related to the repair of con-
crete bridges such as the NCHRP report 280 [48] and to fire hazard
in concrete such as the PCI Manual 124 [49] and the Fib Bulletin 46
[50], can be used as the basis for the post-fire assessment and re-
pair strategy in concrete bridges. Like steel bridges, fire damage
to concrete bridges can be assessed based on visual inspection
and material testing. This assessment will usually include (1) the
evaluation of concrete residual strength using non-destructive
methods, and (2) the estimation of the temperature history of
the areas of the bridge most affected by the fire as maximum tem-
peratures are important to assess the residual strength of the steel
reinforcement as well as to ascertain some critical chemo-physical
transformations (see e.g. Chew [51]; Felicetti and Gambarova [52],
Felicetti et al. [53]).
Visual inspection consists of documenting concrete spalling,
loss of concrete cover to reinforcement, concrete color, and exces-
sive cracking. By examining a fire damaged cross-section of the
concrete member the temperature depth can also be observed. This
is true for all concretes, but some aggregates show better color re-
sponses than others (Georgali and Tsakiridis [54]). The PCI Manual
[49] provides some guidelines for correlating fire exposed concrete
color to probable maximum temperature reached in concrete, as
summarized in Table 4. As visual assessment has a subjective com-
ponent, some researchers have proposed alternative procedures
based for example on combining optical microscopy with color im-
age analysis [55] and on digital camera colorimetry [56].
Stoddard [18] reported the following colors on the soffit of the
bottom flanges of a concrete bridge girder exposed to fire at vari-
ous time intervals: extreme white, ash white, white grey, and soot.
The extreme white color corresponded to the area where the fire
was most intense based on the concrete damage, and the soot color
corresponded to the area with the least heat. These are surface col-
orations, which differ from colors on the interior as referred to in
Table 4.
Another important indicator of temperature effect in concrete is
cracking. Transverse cracks in the beam tensile region could be
indicators of a reduced strength and stiffness that increased deflec-
tions. Cracking is based on two independent variables, temperature
and compressive strength of concrete. Guise et al. [57] determined,
based on concrete compressive strengths of 8.3 ksi (56.9 MPa),
6.7 ksi (46.4 MPa) and 6.3 ksi (43.6 MPa), that the intensity of
cracking will increase linearly as the temperature increases past
a certain point. The point at which cracking will begin and the
severity of it is dictated by the compressive strength of concrete.
Guise et al. [57] reported that the crack density decreases as the
compressive strength increases.
A much more serious physical event caused by fire exposure of
concrete is spalling. Spalling can expose the steel reinforcement di-
rectly to fire, thus making it more susceptible to significant loss of
strength. Further, the loss of concrete cover due to spalling may
lead to corrosion problems in the steel reinforcement bars. There
Table 4
Probable correlation between fire exposed concrete color and temperature (Gusta-
ferro and Martin 1988).
Color Probable maximum temperature (°C)
No discoloration <315
Pink 315–593
Whitish-grey >593
Buff (light tan) >927
95
are three types of spalling; local spalling, which is when small
pieces break away from the concrete, sloughing off, where medium
pieces break away from the concrete, and explosive spalling, which
is when large pieces dramatically break away from the concrete.
Explosive spalling is most common in high strength concrete be-
cause of the low permeability and low porosity of concrete [58].
One must consider that when fire fighters extinguish the fire, the
water on hot concrete may cause spalling of the surface and may
temper the reinforcing steel, which will further intensify the
damage.
The PCI Manual [49] also recommends a hardness test using an
impact rebound hammer. It should be noted that the calibration
curves given by the hammer supplier to estimate the compressive
strength of unheated concrete should not be adopted for heated
concrete evaluation as fire dries the concrete and affects the results
of the test (Felicetti and Gambarova [52]). Therefore, hardness tests
should first be done in unaffected areas as a basis for comparison to
the fire affected areas, which will have a substantially lower hard-
ness value, and will serve mainly to identify damaged areas where
a detailed analysis is required [51]. Stoddard [18] found good cor-
relation between the color of the concrete and the hardness tests.
Concrete core samples can be taken for petrographic examina-
tion and compression tests. The petrographic analysis is mainly
concerned with the damage and property change of the concrete
at high temperature, i.e. depth of microcracking, paste alteration
(color change and strength softening) and carbonation, and also
the microcracking inside the core specimens. Such damage can ad-
versely affect the strength and durability of concrete and contrib-
ute to accelerated corrosion of the reinforcement and may
shorten service life. The petrographic analysis has to be made in
accordance with ASTM C856 Standard Practice for Petrographic
Examination of Hardened Concrete [59]. Table 5 represents com-
mon changes in concrete during the heating phase based on Glash-
een [60] and PCI report [49].
In addition to visual and material testing, few researches have
performed live load tests on bridges affected by fires. Ballim and
Silbernagl [36], for example, gradually and slowly applied live load
representing 3-axle trucks filled with sand to evaluate deflections
in bridge girders.
Following the assessment, strategies can be developed for
repairing moderately damaged members (decks, girders, pier,
etc.) and replacing severely damaged members. American Concrete
Institute (ACI) 546.1R ‘‘Guide for Repair of Concrete Bridge Super-
structures’’ [61] provides detailed guidelines for repairing concrete
bridges damaged by extreme loading conditions (not under fire
conditions). In this standard, repair techniques for concrete bridge
superstructures are described, which includes pier caps, beams,
decks, curbs, sidewalks, and rails. Recommendations for evaluation
of damage, selection of repair method, and surface preparation are
given. However, it should be noted that these repair methods need
to be specifically adopted for fire damaged cases, since fire damage
is significantly different from other types (i.e. earthquake or
hydraulic) of damage. On the other hand, Diederichs et al. [62]
summarize the repair methods specific for fire damaged concrete
structures and provide some structural assessment examples re-
lated to building fires. These authors recommend the removal of
all the external layers of concrete that have been subjected to tem-
peratures higher than 300 °C, the evaluation of the tensile strength
of the remaining concrete layers with pull off tests to have enough
information for the application of mortar and protective coatings
and, depending on the repair strategy, the application of (1) shot-
crete and/or repair mortars to recreate the original shape and size
of the damaged member, (2) injection resins to repair cracks, (3)
extra reinforcement to strengthen the member, (4) a fine mortar
as a finish to close surface pores and (5) an external protective
layer if required by the exposure of the structure.
96 M. Garlock et al. / Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98

Table 5
Physical (appearance) changes in concrete during fire exposure.

Temperature Change
(°C)
<100 Little or no concrete damage. Paste expands with loss of some free water, but few or no cracks and no color changes
250 Localized cracks. Paste is dehydrating with complete loss of free water causing ½% or more decrease in volume. Iron-bearing aggregates begin to
acquire pink/red color
370 Cracks appear around aggregate due to differential thermal properties. Very rapid aggregate expansion of metamorphic and igneous rocks. Numerous
microcracks present in cement paste observed in thin-sections. (Most normal weight concrete has lost half of its strength)
480–500 Concrete may begin to change to a purple grey color if enough iron and lime are present. Portlandite (calcium hydroxide), a major secondary hydration
product, is altering to calium carbonate. Paste has a patchy appearance in thin-sections
550 Serious cracking of paste and aggregates due to expansion. Purple-grey color may become more pronounced
800 Cement paste is completely dehydrated with severe shrinkage cracking and honeycombing. Concrete may begin to be friable and porous
1200 Some components of concrete begin to melt
1400 Concrete is completely vaporized

3.3. Prestressed concrete bridges
In a fire damaged prestressed concrete bridge, the concrete, pre-
stressing strands and mild steel reinforcement might suffer loss of
strength and stiffness due to high temperature exposure. Residual
strength properties of these materials are defined as the remaining
strength after it has been heated and then cooled back to room
temperature.
Guyon [63] reported in 1953 the earliest known data regarding
the tensile strength of prestressing strands (unreported strand
type) exposed to elevated temperatures. It was found that for
stressed specimens tested while heated, there is an initial increase
in tensile strength up to 150–250 °C. Thereafter a significant loss of
tensile strength occurs. Abrams and Cruz [64] investigated the
behavior of 7-wire, stress-relieved prestressing strands at elevated
temperature. It was determined that the failure was independent
of the heating rate and the cooling rate. They also found that the
tensile strength sharply decreases at 93 °C and continues until
reaching 5% residual tensile strength at 760 °C. Abrams and Erlin
[65] performed a follow-up to the previous research where the ef-
fects due to exposure time were examined and hot and cold tensile
strengths were compared. The 8 h exposure test produced residual
tensile strength of 90%, 60%, 41%, 32% and 29% at respective tem-
peratures of 400 °C, 500 °C, 600 °C, 704 °C and 865 °C. The PCI
Manual [49] provides some guidance as to residual strength of
the strand with temperatures, which is summarized in Table 6.
The values are similar (but not the same) to those reported by
Abrams and Erlin [65].
After cooling, the modulus of elasticity of prestressing steel was
found to be independent of temperature. The elastic modulus in-
creased slightly with temperature but then decreased back to the
undamaged value near the end of testing [66,67]. The strength
deterioration of Grade 60 reinforcing bars was examined by Ed-
wards and Gamble [68]. Similar to prestressing steel, the modulus
of elasticity was found to remain the same at elevated tempera-
tures despite the decrease in tensile strength.
Assessing the condition of the concrete in prestressed bridges is
similar to that for reinforced concrete bridge as described previ-
ously. In addition, one must assess the condition of the prestressed
strands. The above discussion provides some information on the
residual strength of the strands after heating. However, one must
first assess what temperature the strands reached during the fire.
The concrete surrounding the strands can provide some indication
of the temperature that the strands experienced. However, caution
should be exerted in making this correlation. In his report of the
inspection of a prestressed concrete bridge, Stoddard [18] noted
that ‘‘strands within the hot zone appeared to have retained
100% of their design force despite high temperatures in the sur-
rounding concrete. We have theorized that the steel strands were
able to conduct heat to cooler concrete away from the heated zone
and prevent substantial reduction in yield stress. [This explains]
the delaminations that have been detected in the . . . soot colored
[low temperature] region. . .’’.
If there is any doubt, strand coupons, taken from the affected
zone, should be tested. Stoddard [18] performed a deflection test
on the strands before removing for testing. The strands were ex-
posed for lengths varying from 2.43 m to 4.27 m and a dead weight
was hung in the middle. By measuring the deflections the prestress
force was estimated.
Most prestressed concrete girders are expected to remain in
compression under service loads to avoid cracking that lead to
corrosion in the strands. This imposes a difficulty on repairing a
prestressed concrete girder because the concrete used to patch
the spalling areas will not be in compression unless special meth-
ods are adopted. Stoddard [18] considered three strategies for
repairing a prestressed concrete bridge subject to fire:
 Encasement: Permanent confinement is placed around the
damaged girders to prevent further deterioration and corrosion.
Examples include ‘‘shot-crete with wire mesh, stay in place
steel forms with pressurized epoxy grout. . ., and removable
forms with concrete and pressurized epoxy grout.’’ The disad-
vantage to encasement is the added weight and access for
future bridge inspections.
 Hydro-blast/preload/pour-back: This strategy involves properly
removing damage concrete and replacing back with new con-
crete. Prior to placing the new concrete, vertical load is to be
applied on the bridge. When the preload is removed the pour
back concrete is compressed.
 Hydro-blast/prestress/pour-back: This strategy is similar to the
above procedure, but instead of using preload to compress the
new concrete, new prestressed strands are added.
4. Future research areas

This literature review has identified several areas where addi-

Table 6 tional research is needed. These areas are currently under investi-
Prestressed strand strength after heating and cooling
(Gustaferro and Martin 1988).
gation by the authors.

Temperature % Of initial strength 4.1. Risk assessment

<400 °C and cooled 100
482 °C and cooled 70 A pre-fire risk assessment strategy should be developed to eval-
600 °C and cooled 50
uate the susceptibility of a bridge to fire hazard considering critical
 M. Garlock et al. / Engineering Structures 35 (2012) 89–98
aspects that influence fire resistance, such as the importance of the
bridge, its construction material, and the possible fire scenarios. In
addition, the risk assessment strategy should provide guidance to
reduce fire risk.
4.2. Fire scenarios
Current standards do not provide any guidance about the fire
scenarios to be considered when dealing with bridge fires. There
is a need to develop realistic fire scenarios specific for bridges that
include the definition of critical parameters such as the location of
the fire, the type of fuel load, the environment conditions, the fea-
tures of the decay phase and the live loads to be considered in case
of a fire event.
4.3. Experimental studies
Most of the research on bridge fires is based on theoretical finite
element models whose validity has not been checked experimen-
tally – with the exception of some back analyses of previous bridge
fire incidents. Previous experimental fire research has focused on
buildings (see e.g. [69–74]) but bridges are very different to build-
ings as their structural members usually sustain bigger loads, span
larger lengths, and have different boundary conditions and cross
sections. These specific features make advisable the development
in parallel of both experimental and theoretical studies.
4.4. Materials
High temperature properties of some of the new construction
materials used in bridges should be studied in detail. New mate-
rials, including high strength concrete, and fiber reinforced poly-
mers, are used for retrofitting and strengthening bridges. While
these repair and retrofitting measures lead to better performance
under ambient (room temperature) conditions, the same may
not be true for situations such as fire exposure. In many cases,
these modifications might actually deteriorate the material and
structural performance under fire conditions [75]. Therefore, for
bridge retrofitting and strengthening, new materials may offer
a convenient and cost-effective solution, but its use must be
studied in detail as many of these new materials have poor or
unknown fire characteristics. In addition, research on the behav-
ior at high temperatures of materials used to build special bridge
equipment such as the elastomeric bearings is also needed as
these elements influence the boundary conditions of the bridge
deck.
4.5. Evaluate bridge vulnerability
Bridge designs should be examined to determine if there are
certain parameters that make the bridge more vulnerable to col-
lapse. If some are identified then modifications to that parameter
need to be proposed to improve the performance, especially for
critical bridges.
4.6. Determine the post-fire strength
In some bridge fires, the structure does not collapse nor deform
significantly, yet significant deformations develop (e.g. large
deflections or local buckling) when the steel material has been sig-
nificantly heated. But is the bridge safe enough to be used?
5. Conclusions
 Fire represents a significant hazard in bridges, which can lead to
structural damage, partial or complete collapse, as well as inter-
97
ruption of traffic flow in the bridge vicinity. However, there are
limited guidelines to evaluate the fire risk or performance of
bridge structures under fire conditions.
 Possible post-fire assessment and repair procedures for steel,
concrete, and prestressed concrete bridges are briefly discussed
based on an extensive literature review. These procedures can
give preliminary guidance to rationally evaluate the fire damage
in bridges and make quick decisions after a fire event.
 There is a strong need for research and development activities
to generate needed data, numerical modeling and design guid-
ance for undertaking evaluation, assessment and repair strate-
gies aimed at overcoming fire hazard in bridges.
Acknowledgements
The research presented in this paper is co-sponsored by Michi-
gan State University (through Strategic Partnership Grant Award
No. SPG-71-1452), the Spanish Ministry of Education (postdoctoral
fellowship awarded to Mr. Paya-Zaforteza – Grant No. EX-2008-
0669- and research project BIA 2011-27104), and the National Sci-
ence Foundation (NSF) under Grant Nos. CMMI-1068252 and
CMMI-1068621 awarded to Princeton University and Michigan
State University. All opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed
in this paper are of the authors’ only and do not necessarily reflect
the policies and views of Michigan State University, or the Spanish
Ministry of Education. The authors also thank Dr. Khaled Mahmoud
for his valuable contributions.
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