A
Publish and Present
Jieun Hur, PhD, P.E.
Assistant Professor of Practice
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
Abdollah Shafieezadeh, PhD
Associate Professor
Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
Zhenhua Chen, PhD
Assistant Professor
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
Ports play a vital role in the nation’s economic well-being. As any disruptions may incur significant economic loss to seaport stakeholders and the society, analysis of resilience of seaports against extreme hazards is of high strategic importance to identify the modes and extents of vulnerabilities and devise cost-effective solutions. However, this is a very challenging task due to the uncertain nature of extreme hazards and the complexity of the hazard performance and operations of seaports. These factors along with the infrequent nature of these events require development of proper risk and resilience analysis frameworks that can be utilized by designers, operators, and decision makers for seaport systems and public and private economic sectors to prepare for and properly operate following hazard events.
This study focuses on resilience evaluation of seaports and the economy in response to extreme events of earthquakes. First, frameworks and studies regarding seismic damage to seaports, the consequences for the resilience and the lessons are objectively reviewed. To analyze the seismic performance of seaports, high-fidelity physics-based models of structural components of seaports including wharves and cranes are developed and subjected to seismic ground motions. The probabilistic physics-based infrastructure vulnerability and resilience models are integrated with an economic consequence model based on computable general equilibrium. Therefore, the structural, operational and economic resilience are estimated against seismic hazards. Using this comprehensive framework, the relative contributions of various resilience enhancing options in reducing potential economic impacts from port disruptions can be quantified considering the uncertainties in hazards and induced physical and operational losses.
This study enhances the understanding of the complex seismic performance of seaports, expected economic impacts and resilience. The framework and the findings can also guide the various solutions for enhancing the resilience of seaport against seismic hazards.