| Principal Investigator(s) and Institution(s)
Stuart D. Werner, Seismic Systems & Engineering Consultants
Objective
This task continues work to develop and improve loss estimation
methods for highway systems, by building on the methodology for seismic
risk analysis (SRA) of highway systems that was initiated under the FHWA
Contract DTFH61-92-C-00106 (Project 106). During Research Year 2, this
task will include: (a) continued support of the independent SRA review
being carried out in Task B1-1; (b) sensitivity studies; and (c)
software architecture assessment and planning. Subtask (c) has been
elevated in importance as the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
has now expressed interest in the REDARS software and is currently
assessing its capabilities for possible implementation and evaluation.
In order to run effectively, however, in a Caltrans-like environment, it
may be critical to have the system ported to a client-server operational
standard.
Approach
During Research Year 2, the following subtasks will be performed:
- Support of SRA Review. The team that developed REDARS during FHWA
Project 106 will continue to provide assistance to the reviewers of the
software working under Task B1-1 to address questions that may arise,
assist in their evaluation and assessment, and work with them in
developing a software evaluation plan.
- Sensitivity Studies. During
Year 2, work will begin on the use of models from the Research Year 1
demonstration SRA of the Shelby County, Tennessee highway system, in
order to assess the sensitivity of the SRA results to variations in
selected input and model parameters. Results from this two-year effort
will be used together with parallel work being carried out under Task
B1-1 for the Los Angeles, California highway system to: (a) establish
priorities for further development of the various modules of the REDARS
SRA methodology during future years of Project 094, and (b) assess the
potential for future simplification of REDARS input data needs and SRA
methodology.
- Software Development Planning. A three-tier software
application is one in which the application and database reside on a
server, and all processing of the programming takes place on a server.
The user would have a client window on their PC on which they would
enter information and review results; however the PC is a viewing tool
only. During Year 2, we will investigate the feasibility of developing
REDARS as a three-tier application by: (a) estimating costs and times
required for this development effort and for validation of the resulting
software; and (b) evaluating the benefits of this approach pertaining to
computability, software maintenance, database integrity, programming,
and costs. This planning effort will provide a basis for assessing
whether REDARS should be developed as three-tier software during future
years of this project.
Products
- Program plan for use in assessing feasibility of further
development of REDARS into a three-tier application, and support to
Caltrans during their review of the REDARS software application.
- Technical report describing interim results of our sensitivity
studies.
- As-needed support of independent review of SRA methodology
under Task B1-1, in response to any questions or requests for support
that may arise.
Technical Challenges
The major challenges for Research Year 2 will be: (a) providing the
necessary support for the SRA review under Task B1-1 within a fixed
budget that can only be roughly estimated at this time; (b) the
implementation of sensitivity studies to establish future research plans
and priorities; and (c) the development of a program plan to assess
future directions for further development of the REDARS software.
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