Abstract
Aim: The main purpose of this article is to provide a discourse about current regulations dealing with fire safety of bridges in Poland and share the outcome with a wider group of specialists, who are involved with fire safety issues.
Introduction: For thousands of years bridges have played a particularly important part in people’s communications network. From primitive and makeshift crossings to complicated applications of structural mechanics, bridges have always been a symbol of unity and development. The Polish public road network currently contains over thirty five thousand bridge structures and tunnels with a cumulative distance of over one thousand and fifty kilometres. Damage, temporary closure or total destruction of a bridge can have a significantly negative impact on the region and part of the affected communications network. The article examines current regulations dealing with the fire safety of bridges, for road and rail networks . The second part of the paper contains a brief summary of regulatory developments in the last hundred years and provides an insight for the basis of present day regulations. The last part of the article contains a concise description of the impact that a fire can have on the superstructure of a bridge. Depending on materials used in the construction, a fire can impact on the bridge or its components, in different ways, and result in a severe reduction of its lifespan and designed load bearing ability.
Methodology: The authors performed a review of current Polish regulations and publications dealing with fire safety. The current legal position is summarized by a range of ministerial directives and several instructions, ratified by ministers and published by state companies involved with the bridge industry. The authors identified a number of issues contained in regulations, which in their view should be clarified or updated. Additionally, the second part of the article provides a description of consequences impacting on the bridge superstructure, which, depending on the material used in construction, can result from an intensive fire.
Conclusions: Generally, the authors consider current regulations concerning bridge fire safety as appropriate. However, a number of proposed improvements would positively enhance the fire safety of bridges in Poland.
Keywords: bridges, fire safety, fire hazards, concrete, steel, fire
Type of article: review article