US-Turkey Workshop on Seismic Retrofit and Post-Earthquake Evaluation of Highway Bridges

自1999年Kocaeli和Duzce地震以来，美国和土耳其地震工程界之间的联系加强了，那次地震导致土耳其许多建筑的破坏和失效。许多桥梁受到地震的影响。美国工程师和研究人员一直在与土耳其同行合作，最大限度地从这些地震中吸取教训，因为这些教训将使两国都受益。提议举办一个美国-土耳其联合讲习班，其目标如下：(1)提供一个论坛，加强美国和土耳其参与桥梁地震工程的工程师和科学家之间的交流；(2)交流两国在桥梁抗震改造和健康监测技术方面的最新经验教训，以帮助震后调查；(3)开发桥梁抗震改造和健康监测方面的共同需求和兴趣领域；(4)制定未来美土联合研究桥梁抗震加固和灾后评估方法的优先事项清单；(5)确定两国联合研究的资金来源。与之前的美土研讨会相比，本次项目将增加对桥梁灾后评估的新维度。将选出大约18至20名美国代表参加，其中一些代表将获得该项目的全部支持，另一些代表将获得该项目的部分支持。这些代表将来自联邦和州交通机构、国家科学基金会、私营部门和学术界。将成立一个指导委员会，以帮助选择成员并制定讲习班计划。讲习班暂定于2004年8月在安卡拉举行。提议的研讨会将提供一个机会，密切交流在美国和土耳其在桥梁抗震改造和震后评估方面所学到的思想和经验教训。两国都将从为期四天的研讨会中受益，因为研讨会将详细讨论相关信息。桥梁抗震改造和灾后评估仍在兴起。这两个领域都包含大量的技术和非技术问题。学习来自其他地震易发国家的工程师和研究人员的观点，这些国家面临着与美国类似的问题，将丰富美国科学和设计界的知识。此外，新的潜在合作研究可能涉及美国的本科生和研究生。这些学生将接受地震工程研究和设计方面的培训，并将接触到国际观点和视角。对了解国际问题的技术人员的培训将增强美国科学工作队伍的人力资源，并将为全球市场上更先进的设计和研究工作改善劳动力储备。

Contacts between the earthquake engineering communities in the United States and Turkeyhave intensified since the 1999 Kocaeli and Duzce earthquakes that led to damage andfailure of numerous structures in Turkey. Many bridges were affect by these earthquakes.The US engineers and researchers have been working with their Turkish counterparts tomaximize the lessons learned from these earthquakes because these lessons would benefitboth countries. A joint US-Turkey workshop is proposed with the following objectives: (1)To provide a forum to enhance communication between engineers and scientists involved inearthquake engineering of bridges in the United States and Turkey, (2) To exchangeinformation about recent lessons learned in each country in seismic retrofit of bridgesand health monitoring techniques to aid in post-earthquake investigations, (3) To developareas of common needs and interest in bridge seismic retrofit and health monitoring, (4)To develop a list of priorities for future joint US-Turkey research in seismic retrofitand post-disaster evaluation methods for bridges, and (5) To identify sources of fundingfor joint research in both countries. Relative to previous US-Turkey workshops, theproposed program will have the new dimension of post-disaster evaluation of bridges.Approximately 18 to 20 US delegates will be selected for participation, some with full andothers with partial support from this project. The delegates will be from federal andstate transportation agencies, NSF, the private sector, and the academia. A steeringcommittee will be formed to help select the members and develop the workshop program. Theworkshop is tentatively scheduled for August 2004 in Ankara.The proposed workshop will provide an opportunity for close exchange of ideas and lessonsthat have been learned in the US and Turkey in seismic retrofit and post-earthquakeevaluation of bridges. Both countries will benefit from the workshop as information isdiscussed in detail in the course of the four-day workshop. Seismic retrofit andpost-disaster evaluation of bridges are still emerging. Both areas encompass a great dealof technical and non-technical issues. Learning the perspectives of engineers andresearchers from other earthquake-prone countries that face problems similar to those ofthe US will enrich the knowledge of the scientific and design community in the US.Furthermore, the new potential collaborative research could involve undergraduate andgraduate students in the US. These students will be trained in earthquake engineeringresearch and design and will be exposed to international views and perspectives. Thetraining of skilled individual with understanding of international issues will enhance themanpower in the US scientific work force and will improve the labor pool for more advanceddesign and research work in the global market.