Integrating fire resistance into infrastructure projects

Abstract

Fire represents one of the most severe environmental conditions to which structures may be subjected and hence, the provision of appropriate fire safety measures for structural members is an important aspect of design. While the fire resistance provisions are one of the major requirements in buildings, the need for extending such provisions to infrastructure is being debated after some of the recent fire incidents in tunnels and bridges. Also, the wider use of high-performing materials (HPM), such as high-strength concrete (HSC) and fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) in infrastructure applications, has brought fire issues t the forefront of this debate. In the paper, the different fire scenarios associated with infrastructure projects will be explained. The complexities associated with the fire resistance performance of HPM, mainly HSC and FRP, will be outlined. An approach will be suggested to integrate fire safety into overall structural design. Through case studies, it will be illustrated that cost-effective design can be achieved by integrating fire resistance into the overall design.Le feu constitue l?une des conditions environnementales les plus rigoureuses auxquelles des structures peuvent \ueatre expos\ue9es. Par cons\ue9quent, la prescription de mesures de s\ue9curit\ue9 incendie appropri\ue9es pour les \ue9l\ue9ments structuraux repr\ue9sente un aspect important de la conception. Bien que la prescription li\ue9e \ue0 la r\ue9sistance au feu demeure l?une des exigences majeures pour les b\ue2timents, on examine actuellement la n\ue9cessit\ue9 d?\ue9tendre de telles prescriptions \ue0 l?infrastructure, \ue0 la suite de certains incendies ayant r\ue9cemment \ue9clat\ue9 dans des tunnels et sur des ponts. En outre, l?utilisation \ue9largie aux applications d?infrastructure des mat\ue9riaux \ue0 haute performance (MHP), comme le b\ue9ton \ue0 haute r\ue9sistance (BHR) et les polym\ue8res renforc\ue9s de fibres (PRF), a rendu les questions li\ue9es \ue0 la r\ue9sistance au feu prioritaires dans ce d\ue9bat. Dans ce document, les diff\ue9rents sc\ue9narios d?incendie associ\ue9s aux projets d?infrastructure seront expliqu\ue9s, et l?on d\ue9crira les complexit\ue9s qui sont associ\ue9es \ue0 la performance en mati\ue8re de tenue au feu des MHP, essentiellement le BHR et les PRF. Une m\ue9thode sera sugg\ue9r\ue9e pour int\ue9grer la s\ue9curit\ue9 incendie \ue0 m\ueame la conception globale des structures. Il sera d\ue9montr\ue9 par des \ue9tudes de cas que l?on peut en arriver \ue0 une conception efficace en termes de co\ufbts en int\ue9grant la r\ue9sistance au feu dans la conception globale.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye