j o u r n a l o f t r a f fi c a n d t r a n s p o r t a t i o n e n g i n e e r i n g ( e n g l i s h e d i t i o n ) 2 0 2 2 ; 9 ( 3 ) : 4 2 2 e4 4 6

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

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journal homepage: www.keaipublishing.com/jtte

Review article

Review and discussion on fire behavior of

bridge girders

Gang Zhang*, Xiaocui Zhao, Zelei Lu, Chaojie Song, Xuyang Li, Chenhao Tang
School of Highway, Chang'an University, Xi'an 710064, China

highlights

Fire behavior of bridge girders is reviewed and discussed.

Seriousness of bridge fires is highlighted.

Strategies for enhancing fire resistance of bridge girders are provided.

Fire resistance in types of bridge girders is investigated and presented.

Steel-truss bridge girders are significantly vulnerable to fire damage.

article info abstract

Article history: This paper presents an overview on fire behavior of bridge girders mainly including pre-
Received 29 April 2022 stressed concrete (PC) bridge girders and steel bridge girders. The typical fire accidents
Received in revised form occurred on bridges are illustrated and, the seriousness of posing threats to bridge struc-
23 May 2022 tures resulted from increasing traffic fires, specially intense hydrocarbon fires generated
Accepted 26 May 2022 from petrol-chemicals, is highlighted. The current researches, embracing high-tempera-
Available online 6 June 2022 ture properties of constituent materials, prestress state, measurement in fire tests, nu-
merical methods, structural fire resistance, and so forth, taken on coping with problems
Keywords: existing in fire behavior and structural fire behavior in bridge girders are reviewed and
Bridge engineering discussed. Further, strategies for enhancing fire resistance of bridge girders followed with
Fire behavior failure criterion and mode in types of bridge structures are provided. Future research area
Prestressed concrete bridge girder along with emerging trends in structural fire behavior of bridge girders is also recom-
Steel bridge girder mended for mitigating fire hazards occurred on bridge girders. Herein, it can be attained a
Fire resistance conclusion from review and discussion that prestressed concrete bridge girders with thin
Fire hazard webs, specially T-shaped bridge girder, are prone to unstable under fire exposure condi-
tions. High-strength concrete utilized in prestressed concrete bridge girders is vulnerable
to spalling at elevated temperature. Steel-truss bridge girder present a more significant
fragility to fire exposure compared than other steel bridge girders.
© 2022 Periodical Offices of Chang'an University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on
behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-
ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: þ86 29 8233 8170.

E-mail addresses: zhangg_2004@126.com (G. Zhang), zhaoxc163@163.com (X. Zhao), luzelei0212@126.com (Z. Lu), scj3660@126.com (C.
Song), li_xy_2020@126.com (X. Li), 18815288146@163.com (C. Tang).
Peer review under responsibility of Periodical Offices of Chang'an University.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtte.2022.05.002
2095-7564/© 2022 Periodical Offices of Chang'an University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co.
Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
1. Introduction
Bridges have been experienced a long history of construction
and development. Bridges, as the main hub of transportation,
are dominant pivots in traffic construction and traffic devel-
opment (Fig. 1) (Baidu, 2022a; Kodur and Naser, 2019a; Zhang
et al., 2018a, 2021a). Further, bridges are major components
consisted of highways and railways, and can stride across
huge straits along with deep canyons. Most of transportation
occurred through highways or railways are closely and
directly related to bridges. Therefore, bridges are
significantly key elements in transportation infrastructures
dominating the carrying and communication capacity of
traffic networks (Kodur and Naser, 2019a; Zhang et al.,
2018a, 2021a). Failure of bridges leads to the paralysis and
interruption of the entire transportation infrastructures, and
also traffic congestion and chaos.
The cost of building a bridge is highly expensive, and
hereby it consumes momentous money per mile during the
overall transportation infrastructure construction (Kodur and
Naser, 2019a). Thus, hazard-prevention and protection
together with mitigation methods of bridges are deserved to
investigate to enhance structural safety and durability.
However, increase in traffic volume along with extreme-
loading environments frequently makes transportation
infrastructure face such inevitable risks namely; explosions,
earthquakes, typhoons and fires and so on. Therefore,
disaster-prevention and mitigation are critical to maintain
full-life service periods of bridges in the face of serious and
sudden hazards (Kodur and Naser, 2019a; Zhang et al.,
2018a, 2021a).
With increase in the global energy demands, oil tanker
trucks loading and carrying deflagrated and combustible
chemical products present a substantial growth trend in the
past few years. Thus, once these oil tanker trucks cause traffic
accidents, loaded chemical products will produce severe fire
hazards with a high probability (Kodur and Naser, 2019a;
Zhang et al., 2018a, 2021a). These fires, originated from
Fig. 1 e Massive overpass bridge (Baidu, 2022a).
423
hydrocarbon substances, with characteristic of surpassing
1000  C in temperature, disastrously threatens the safety
and durability of bridge structures. This disaster can lead to
damage and failure in local components or even collapse of
the overall bridge, thus resulting in casualties, traffic
interruption and cargo detention. Therefore, fire has become
an enormous challenge during construction and operation of
bridge structures (Garlock, 2008; Kodur and Naser, 2019a;
Zhang et al., 2018a, 2021a).
In order to ensure the safe service of bridges in full-life
cycle period, it is necessary to carry out reliable and preferable
design strategies, construction measures, comprehensive
protection techniques and early pre-warning and monitoring
methods of bridge fires. Only through strengthening the abil-
ity of bridges to resist fire hazards can the safety of people's
lives and properties be guaranteed (Kodur and Naser, 2019a;
Zhang et al., 2018a, 2021a). Fire behavior of bridge girders is
a significantly key research area of disaster-prevention and
mitigation in bridges. Development of fire-prevention and
protection in bridges determines whether bridge disasters
can be fundamentally solved, which is the focus of urgent
attention at present (Astaneh-Asl et al., 2009; Battelle, 2004;
Bulwa and Fimrite, 2007; Chung et al., 2008; Garlock, 2008;
Garlock et al., 2012; Gong, 2015; Kodur and Naser, 2019a, b;
Song et al., 2020, 2021a, 2021c; Zhang et al., 2018a, 2018b,
2020a, 2020b, 2021a, 2022; Zhou et al., 2018).
2. Fire problems in bridges
The latest information consulted some literature shows fire
problems in bridges are growing and, become more and more
prominent (Garlock, 2008; Garlock et al., 2012; Gong, 2015;
Kodur and Naser, 2019a, b; Song et al., 2021c; Zhang et al.,
2018a, 2020a, 2021a, 2022). Bridge fires are commonly caused
by highly flammable hydrocarbon substance originated from
collision and overturn of oil tanker trucks loading numerous
petrol-chemicals. These fires release enormous heats within
424 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
seconds and then come into being extremely high
temperatures that can almost melt a lot of materials, as
shown in Fig. 2 (Baidu, 2022b). Consequently, bridge fires are
typically high and intense followed with explosive burning.
Peak temperature stemmed from these bridge fires can
exceed 1000  C as discussed above.
These high and intense fires can lead to severe deteriora-
tion of the structural rigidity and load-bearing capacity in key
structural members of bridges (Kodur and Naser, 2019a; Zhang
et al., 2018a, 2021a). This deterioration of rigidity and strength
in main structural members can cause commonly complete
failure and even collapse of fire-damaged bridges. When the
facts combine with actual bridges, there are many serious
fire accidents occurred on bridges all over the world every
year generated from the early discussions mentioned above.
Related literature survey shows that there are 37,600 traffic
fire accidents in the United States every year, resulting in
occurrence of 570 casualties and 128 million US dollars of
property losses (Battelle, 2004; Garlock, 2008; Garlock et al.,
2012; Kodur and Naser, 2019a, b). In 2008, the New York
Department of Transportation conducted an investigation
on bridge fire accidents through 18 states and pointed out
that, 52 bridges collapsed due to occurrence of fires, which
was approximate 2.7 times that of collapse resulted from
earthquake (Garlock, 2008; Garlock et al., 2012; Kodur and
Naser, 2019a, b). The following information consulted
numerous literatures provides several typical cases of fire
accidents where bridges collapsed due to fuel fires (Aziz
et al., 2015; Garlock, 2008; Garlock et al., 2012; Gong, 2015;
Kodur et al., 2013; Kodur and Naser, 2019a, b; Zhang et al.,
2018a, 2020a, 2021c). Some of notable fire incidents,
including time of fire, cause of fire and failure characteristic
of bridge, occurred on bridges are summarized in Table 1
(Aziz et al., 2015; Battelle, 2004; Garlock, 2008; Garlock et al.,
2012; Gong, 2015; Kodur et al., 2013; Kodur and Naser, 2019a,
2021; Zhang et al., 2018a, 2021a).
On January 5, 2002, a tanker truck, transporting carrying
37,000 L gasoline, overturned while just passing by the I-65
overpass adjacent to Hazel Park in Michigan (Aziz et al., 2015;
Barkley and Strasburg, 2002; Garlock et al., 2012; Gong, 2015;
Kodur et al., 2013; Kodur and Naser, 2019b; Zhang et al.,
2021a). The fuel leaked near I-65 bridge and then triggered a
severe fire hazard, causing steel-concrete composite girders
Fig. 2 e Oil tanker truck fire on highway (Baidu, 2022b).
on the bridge to be significantly deflected by 3 m at mid-
span, as shown in Fig. 3. The concrete columns completely
supporting bridge girders were also seriously suffered from
fire damage. The fire-damaged steel-plate concrete
composite bridge girder, comprised of steel plate using a
height of 1.356 m together with a thickness of 28 mm, and
concrete slab utilizing strength of 40 MPa in company with a
thickness of 170 mm. The steel plate was decorated utilizing
a large number of longitudinal and transverse stiffeners
with strength of 350 MPa. After the fire broke out, it took
approximately 54 d to complete large amount of repair tasks
on fire-damaged bridge. Here in, all traffics coming and
going in each direction were closed at that time (Aziz et al.,
2015; Barkley and Strasburg, 2002; Battelle, 2004; Garlock,
2008; Garlock et al., 2012; Gong, 2015; Kodur et al., 2013;
Kodur and Naser, 2019a, 2021).
On April 29, 2007, a tanker truck, carrying 32,000 L gasoline,
overturned when passing through the I-80/880 overpass on
the US interstate highway. Thus, this sudden traffic accidents
result in the leakage of fuel and a serious fire, as shown in
Fig. 4(a) (Astaneh-Asl et al., 2009; Aziz et al., 2015; Battelle,
2004; Bulwa and Fimrite, 2007; Chung et al., 2008; Garlock,
2008; Garlock et al., 2012; Gong, 2015; Kodur et al., 2013, 2017;
Kodur and Naser, 2019a, b; National Steel Bridge Alliance,
2010; Taipei Times, 2007; Zhang et al., 2018a, 2021a). Firemen
instantly rushed to the site of fire accident within 14 min to
extinguish the fire, at that time temperature on the accident
site almost exceeding 1100  C. Therefore, steel structural
bridge girders could no longer withstand such high
temperatures. Approximately 22 min after fire broke out, the
overpass collapsed as a last resort. In addition, adjacent
spans and important members of bridge substructure were
severely fire damaged. The main girder in bridge
superstructures is fabricated using a steel-plate concrete
composite girder composed of 6 steel plate girders firmly
supporting reinforced concrete slabs. The collapsed overpass
completely blocked traffic in multiple directions, causing
heavy economic losses and costly repairs. The government
department consumed more than $9 million to repair,
embracing $4.3 million of demolition (Astaneh-Asl et al.,
2009; Aziz et al., 2015; Battelle, 2004; Bulwa and Fimrite,
2007; Chung et al., 2008; Garlock, 2008; Garlock et al., 2012;
Gong, 2015; Kodur et al., 2013, 2017; Kodur and Naser, 2019a,
b; National Steel Bridge Alliance, 2010; Taipei Times, 2007;
Zhang et al., 2018a, 2021a), and massive economic losses per
day during traffic recovery periods (Astaneh-Asl et al., 2009;
Aziz et al., 2015; Battelle, 2004; Bulwa and Fimrite, 2007;
Chung et al., 2008; Kodur et al., 2013).
On July 15, 2009, a tanker truck loaded with round about
50,000 L flammable liquid collided with a truck under the
overpass when just crossing I-75 expressway in the United
States (Astaneh-Asl et al., 2009; Aziz et al., 2015; Gong, 2015;
Kodur et al., 2013; Kodur and Naser, 2019b; Zhang et al.,
2018a, 2021a). This collision resulted in fuel leakage and
then fuel tanker burst into flames followed with
temperature exceeding 1100  C. The overpass collapsed after
approximate 20 min, and the fire was extinguished fully
utilizing 105 min, as shown in Fig. 4(b) (Aziz et al., 2015;
National Steel Bridge Alliance, 2010; Kodur et al., 2013;
Zapletal, 2009). The concrete columns, cover beams and
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446 425

Table 1 e Fire incidents in bridges.

Date Bridge Structural Location Cause of fires Consequence of fires
characteristic
Mar. 23, 2022 A major bridge in Lagos Concrete structural Lagos, Nigeria Unstable power supply The commercial shops
City bridge caused sparks leading to under the bridge were
a fire hazard burned down
Oct. 2, 2021 Bridge across Tiber River Steel-truss arch bridge Rome, Italy The gas pipeline caught Partial structure of the
fire bridge collapsed
Mar. 26, 2021 Hero Bridge Concrete structural Wuhan, China A truck ignited The bridge deck and
bridge spontaneously guardrail were
blackened
Jul. 29, 2020 Railway bridge over an Steel-truss bridge Arizona, USA Derailment of the train Partial girders collapsed
artificial lake in Tempe caused a fire and several carriages fell
into the open area
Mar. 30, 2017 I-85 bridge Concrete structural Georgia, USA Burning of numerous One-span bridge
bridge polyvinyl chloride (PVC) collapsed after 40 min of
pipes stored under the fire breakout
bridge
May 24, 2015 I-375 bridge Composite structural Michigan, USA A gasoline tanker Concrete deck was
bridge carrying 34,069 L severely damaged by fire
crashed
May 5, 2014 I-15 bridge Composite structural California, USA Blowtorches spread fire Bridge collapsed
bridge into the “falsework” of
the bridge when cutting
rebar
Nov. 29, 2013 Zhuoshui Fengyu Bridge Wooden bridge girders China Wood girders on top of Wooden bridge girders
brick piers caught fire collapsed after burning
of superstructure
July 2, 2012 Bridge on highway along Prestressed concrete Guangzhou, China A petrochemicals taker The fire burned for
river bridge girders truck struck by a truck hours, and large-area
concrete spalling
occurred on the bottom
of bridge girders
Aug. 14, 2011 Bridge on Jinliwen Precast prestressed box Zhejiang, China A petrochemicals taker Bridge girders were
Highway bridge girders caught pyrophoricity significantly damaged
fire and then demolished
and replaced
Aug. 2, 2011 Caogou Bridge Precast prestressed box Shaanxi, A petrol taker hit by coal Bridge girders were
bridge girders China lorries severely damaged and
then demolished and
replaced
Jun. 27, 2010 Shenhai Expressway Prestressed concrete Quanzhou, China Fuel tanker overturned Gasoline leaked out, and
Viaduct at K184 þ 100 bridge girders under bridge thus causing fire
Jul. 15, 2009 Bridge over I-75 near Composite bridge (steel Michigan, USA A gasoline tanker struck The bridge completely
Hazel Park girders and reinforced an overpass on I-75 collapsed
concrete slab)
May 7, 2008 Big Four Bridge Steel-truss bridge Kentucky, USA The lighting system The bridge had minor
presents electrical structural damage
problem
Apr. 29, 2007 I-80/880 interchange in Composite deck (steel California, USA A gasoline tanker A 160 m section of the
Oakland girders and reinforced crashed interchange collapsed
concrete slab)
Jan. 28, 2006 Belle Isle Bridge in NW Concrete deck (precast Oklahoma, USA A truck crashed into the Concrete bridge girders
expressway prestressed I girders and bridge were slightly damaged
cast- in-place reinforced
concrete slabs)
Jan. 25, 2005 Rio-Antirrio Bridge Cable-stayed composite Greece Lightning strike Cable failed after 40 min
bridge of fire exposure
Jul. 1, 2004 Mungo River Bridge Steel-truss bridge Cameron A petrol tanker, Bridge collapsed
transporting about
15,000 L derailed
Mar. 26, 2003 I-95 Howard Avenue Composite bridge (steel Connecticut, USA A truck carrying 30,283 L Collapse of girders in
Overpass girders and reinforced of heating oil was struck southbound lanes and
concrete slab) near the bridge partial collapse of the
northbound lanes
(continued on next page)
426 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
Table 1 e (continued )
Date Bridge Structural
characteristic
Jan. 5, 2002 I-20/I-59/I-65 Steel bridge girders Alabama, USA
interchange in
Birmingham
1999 Cove Creek Bridge e Alaska, USA
May 24, 1998 Chester Creek Bridge Composite structural Pennsylvania, USA
bridge (steel girders and
reinforced concrete slab)
Oct. 9, 1997 Thruway Overpass Composite structural New York City, USA
bridge (steel I-girders
and reinforced concrete
slab)
Feb. 5, 1995 I-80WeI-580E ramp in Composite structural California, USA
Emeryville bridge (steel girders and
reinforced concrete slab)
bearings as main numbers in bridges were severely burned.
The superstructure of overpass is fabricated using steel-
plate concrete composite girders spanning 24 m, which is
horizontally connected utilizing 10 steel plate girders
holding concrete slab. After the bridge collapse, traffic on
the super- and sub-roads of overpass was completely
interrupted, and retrofitting time was kept several months
(Astaneh-Asl et al., 2009; Aziz et al., 2015; Battelle, 2004;
Bulwa and Fimrite, 2007; Chung et al., 2008; Garlock, 2008;
Garlock et al., 2012; Gong, 2015; Kodur et al., 2013, 2017;
Kodur and Naser, 2019a, 2019b; National Steel Bridge
Alliance, 2010).
In May 2013, two oil tanker trains collided accidently, thus
causing viaduct on the Colorado River in Texas to catch severe
fire hazards and then collapsing continuously similar to
domino effects (Gong, 2015; Iqiyi, 2022; Kodur and Naser,
2019b; Youku, 2022; Zhang et al., 2018a, 2021a). The sudden
tremendous fire cannot leave any time for firefighter to
respond and take any measures to save structures in the
bridge, as shown in Fig. 4(c) (Gong, 2015; Iqiyi, 2022; Kodur
and Naser, 2019b; Youku, 2022; Zhang et al., 2018a, 2021a).
In March 2017, a sudden fire broke out on a bridge located
in I-85, GA. This fire caused one span of bridge girder fall to the
ground after about 40 min of fire exposure, as shown in
Fig. 4(d) (Atlanta Chinese Life Network, 2017; China.com-News
Channel, 2017; Huanqiu News, 2017; Kodur and Naser, 2019a,
2021; Kodur and Srishti, 2021; NTSB, 2018; Song et al., 2020;
Taipei Times, 2007; Zhang et al., 2018a, 2020b). The
superstructure in the fire-damaged bridge is fabricated and
transverse splicing eight prestressed concrete T bridge
girders. It took several months to reconstruction and reopen
to the traffic, and thus leading to significant economic losses
through the entire retrofitting periods (Atlanta Chinese Life
Network, 2017; China.com-News Channel, 2017; Huanqiu
News, 2017; Kodur and Naser, 2019a, 2021; Kodur and Srishti,
2021; NTSB, 2018; Song et al., 2020; Taipei Times, 2007;
Zhang et al., 2018a, 2020b).
Numerous and kinds of bridge fires occur on highway and
railway every year. Herein, most of them are demolished and
rebuilt after fire exposure. This can be attributed to the fact
that bridge fire severely affects the structural safety
Location Cause of fires Consequence of fires
A loaded gasoline tanker Main span sagged about
crashed 3m
e Bridge was destroyed
A tank truck loaded with Steel girders buckled
32,933 L of gasoline and then needed major
derailed repair
A fuel tanker loading Collapse of the bridge
with 33,312 L of gasoline costed $7 million and
collided with a car took 155 d to replace
A loaded gasoline tanker Bridge deck and
crashed guardrail together with
some ancillary facilities
were damaged
performance and the quality of transportation. Meanwhile,
bridge fire also causes economic losses and seriously
threatens the safety of people's lives and properties (Kodur
and Naser, 2019a; Song et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2018a,
2020b). Involved fire-damaged bridge girders mostly include
concrete structural bridge girders and steel structural bridge
girders. To investigate fire behavior of bridge, fire hazards
occurred on concrete bridge girders and steel bridge girders,
are mainly reviewed and discussed to provide strategies for
enhancing fire resistance and mitigating fire hazards of
bridge girders (Garlock et al., 2012; Gong, 2015; Kodur and
Naser, 2019b, 2021; Song et al., 2020, 2021a, 2021c; Zhang
et al., 2018a, 2020a, 2020b, 2022; Zhou et al., 2018).
3. Fire behavior of bridge girders
As per composition characteristics of material used in bridge
superstructures, bridge girders can be mainly divided into
prestressed concrete bridge girders and steel bridge girders.
Prestressed concrete (PC) bridge girders are utilized much
earlier than steel bridge girders in most of countries (Zhang
et al., 2018a; 2021a).
3.1. Fire behavior of PC bridge girders
Prestressed concrete bridge girders are evolutionary products
of common reinforced concrete bridge girders. Compared with
commonly used reinforced concrete bridge girders, pre-
stressed concrete bridge girders are fabricated utilizing high-
strength concrete and possess large structural span and low
sectional height along with thin webs. Further, prestressed
concrete bridge girders include precast prestressed concrete
bridge girders and cast-in-place prestressed concrete bridge
girders, as shown in Fig. 5 (Baidu, 2021; Zhang et al., 2018a,
2021a).
Prestressed concrete bridge girders are widely applied in
bridge construction due to many advantages namely; cost
effectiveness and good durability. Prestressed concrete bridge
girders primarily exhibit concrete spalling, concrete crushing,
and concrete crack, loss of prestress and structural deflection
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446 427

Fig. 3 e Large deflection sagging 3 m of steel-concrete composite girders on I-65 bridge (courtesy of ALDOT).

when subjected to severe fire. Prestressed concrete bridge
girders possess thin webs due to the presence of high-strength
prestressing strands and high-strength concrete. Therefore,
these constituent materials and mechanical properties in
structural members are more sensitive to highly intense fire
as compared than common concrete bridge girders (Song
et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2018a, 2021a,
2021b, 2021c).
The current researches of fire resistance in concrete
structures are mainly concentrated on structural members as

Fig. 4 e Collapse of bridge girders subjected to severe fire hazards. (a) I-80/580 Overpass (Taipei Times, 2007). (b) Steel bridge
girder in I-75 Expressway (Zapletal, 2009). (c) Viaduct on the Colorado River. (d) PC bridge girder in I-85 Highway (Atlanta
Chinese Life Network, 2017; China.com-News Channel, 2017; Huanqiu News, 2017).
428 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
Fig. 5 e Prestressed concrete bridge girders (Baidu, 2021).
used in buildings. These members in building have a smaller
three-dimensional size compared than prestressed concrete
bridge girders. There are numerous differences of fire
behavior between such components in buildings and pre-
stressed concrete girders in bridges when suffered from fire
hazards. These difference embraces fire exposure scene, fire
exposure scope, boundary conditions, stress characteristics
and mechanical performance of overall structures. Therefore,
most of research results used in buildings cannot be directly
applied on investigation of fire behavior in prestressed con-
crete bridge girders (Song et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2017a,
2017b, 2017c, 2018a, 2021a, 2021b, 2021c).
3.1.1. High-temperature properties in concrete and rebar and
strands
Common steel bars, concrete and prestressing strands are the
main materials utilized in prestressed concrete bridge girders.
The high-temperature properties of constituent materials,
used in bridges, are the key to investigate the mechanical
behavior of prestressed concrete bridge girders under fire
exposure conditions. The high-temperature properties of
constituent materials include thermal and mechanical prop-
erties (ASCE, 2005; ASTM, 2014a, b; BSI, 1987; CEN, 2002, 2004,
2005a, 2005b; Kodur and Shakya, 2014; Song et al., 2020; Utting
and Jones, 1987; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2018a, 2021a,
2021b, 2021c; Zong et al., 2016). Thermal properties mainly
embrace specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, bulk
density and water content with various temperatures.
Mechanical properties contain strength, stiffness,
constitutive relationship, and thermal expansion coefficient
at different temperatures. In addition, prestressing strands
manifest a predominant high-temperature creep behavior
due to presence of high stresses. Information provided in
Eurocode (CEN, 2002, 2004, 2005a, 2005b) indicates that
thermal conductivity of concrete varies with composition
characteristics of concrete. Thermal conductivity, specific
heat capacity, bulk density together with water content in
concrete directly dominates the heat-conduction velocity
along cross section and span of PC bridge girders exposed to
localized fire. Also, these heat conduction parameters along
with sectional configurations affect the distribution width
and shape of temperature gradient. This means that thermal
analysis is performed to provide the basis for determination
of mechanical behavior. Structural mechanical behavior
changes, at any time, with the temperature distributed in
girder sections through fire exposure duration (Song et al.,
2020; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2018a, 2021).
The strength, stiffness, constitutive relationship and
thermal expansion coefficient of materials at high tempera-
ture are indispensable for analysis of mechanical behavior in
prestressed concrete bridge girders under real localized fire
exposure conditions. Strength and stiffness determine
bearing capacity and structural deformation of prestressed
concrete bridge girders at different temperatures, respec-
tively. Constitutive relationship governs path of deflection in
prestressed concrete bridge girders with fire exposure time.
The high-temperature creep along with relaxation of pre-
stressing strands affects the extent of deflection in pre-
stressed concrete bridge girders. Thermal expansion
coefficient is the mechanical essence of thermal-mechanical
coupling effect in fire exposed to bridge structures (Song et al.,
2020; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2018a, 2021a).
Furthermore, the strength and stiffness of concrete with
increase of temperature attenuates more slowly compared
than steel bars and prestressing strands. The Eurocode
indicates that descending segment in constitutive model of
concrete can be illustrated using either a straight line or a
curve (CEN, 2002). Curves of descending segment in
constitutive model of concrete at different temperatures are
reliable to perform a precisely numerical analysis. The
strength together with stiffness in steel bars and
prestressing strands are completely lost at 700  C.
Specifications in ASTM E119-E201 manifest that prestressing
strands fail when temperatures exceed 400  C (ASTM, 2014a,
b). Stipulation in Eurocode recommends that the
constitutive model in prestressing strands is in keeping with
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446 429

Fig. 6 e Test on rebars and prestressing strands embedded in PC bridge girders after fire exposure. (a) Test on rebar. (b) Test
on prestressing strands. (c) Test specimens after fire exposure. (d) Fracture of test specimens.

that of common steel bar except peak value in strength (CEN,
2005a, b). When the facts combine with actual bridges, the
manufacture of prestressing strands is a far cry from
common steel bars, and thus constitutive models are
different in the horizontal segment. Zhang et al. (2022)
conduct a test on rebars and prestressing strands embedded
in prestressed concrete bridge girders after fire exposure, as
shown in Fig. 6.
3.1.2. Concrete spalling
The fire resistance of concrete is more superior than that of
steel and wood along with other fiber materials. However,
high-strength concrete used in bridge girders is prone to high-
temperature spalling when subjected to fire. This spalling can
be mainly attributed to internal compressive stress generated
inside concrete in most of fire exposure conditions (Song et al.,
2020; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2018a, 2021a, 2021b,
2021c, 2022; Zhang and He, 2014). When the facts combine
with actual bridges, concrete spalling is directly and closely
related to content of moisture in concrete. Concrete with
high and dense moisture content is vulnerable to deep
spalling, specially during curing age using water vapour
(Song et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2018a,
2021a, 2021b, 2021c, 2022). In addition, concrete spalling is
closely associated with the existing stress state within
concrete and composition of sectional material together
with concrete porosity. i.e., concrete located in high stress
state is liable to spalling, and bigger porosity together with
higher moisture can lead to greater extent of spalling.
Further, spalling is in connection with the severity of
external fire exposure, and smaller protective layer
thickness can cause higher probability of spalling.
Sometimes, concrete spalling occurs on the bottom flange of
bridge girders and location adjacent to prestressing strand
pipes. Concrete spalling mechanism in different slabs under
hydrocarbon fire exposure conditions was investigated, and
430 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
Fig. 7 e High-temperature spalling in concrete. (a) Layer peeling. (b) Slag.
the structural characteristics of fire-damaged concrete were
analyzed using microstructure resulted from several
examples (Guerrieri and Fragomeni, 2016). Numerous
information, dependent on fire-resistant test of prestressed
concrete bridge girders under fuel fire exposure conditions,
provided that intense fire combined with high moisture in
circumstance can speed up and increase spalling extent of
concrete including layer peeling and slag, as shown in Fig. 7
(Zhang et al., 2019, 2022).
Related literatures show that high-strength concrete is
prone to spalling under high temperature as compared than
low-strength concrete (Kodur and Srishti, 2021; Naser and
Kodur, 2022; Solhmirzaei et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2018a). For
prestressed high-strength concrete bridge girders, highly
intense fire heating up within a few of minutes can easily
lead to concrete spalling. Spalling leads to a rapid increase
of temperatures inside concrete, which aggravates the
deterioration of fire exposed to prestressed concrete bridge
girders. Large areas of concrete spalling, leading to
significant reduction of effective concrete protective layer
thickness, causes temperature rise rapidly in prestressing
strands and common steel bars. As a result, mechanical
properties in prestressing strands and common steel bars
experiencing high temperatures degrade significantly, even
causing prestressed concrete bridge girders to collapse
suddenly.
So as to mitigate fire-induced spalling in concrete, re-
searchers have recommended the addition of fibers into
concrete mixes, such as polypropylene (PP) or steel fibers
(Kodur, 2005). Because of the randomness of concrete spalling,
it is difficult to look into spalling mechanism in concrete
dependent on numerical methods. Thus, many scholars
investigate spalling behavior of concrete counted on
experimental way (Chen et al., 2017; Sanchayan and Foster,
2016; Song et al., 2021d; Sun and Lin, 2016; Zhang et al.,
2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2018a, 2018b, 2022). Sun and Lin (2016)
tested and verified that 0.2% volume content of PP fibers
have a good inhibitory effect on spalling of ordinary
concrete at high temperatures. When polyvinyl alcohol
(PVA) fibers are used to replace PP fibers to inhibit concrete
spalling, it is found that PVA fibers need also reach a high
content before it can play a role. Among the hybrid fibers,
PVA fibers are used to suppress spalling at elevated
temperatures, while steel fibers are used to maintain high-
temperature strength and then reduce transverse
penetration cracking of specimens (Sanchayan and Foster,
2016). In addition, Chen et al. (2017) have conducted an
experimental research on the spalling law in prestressed
concrete slab under fire exposure conditions, and proposed
critical temperatures of concrete spalling at high
temperatures. Zhang et al. (2022) undertook an experimental
investigation on spalling characteristics of prestressed
concrete box girders under fuel fire exposure conditions, and
analyzed bearing capacity of prestressed concrete box girder
considering effect of spalling. This experimental
investigation presents information that polypropylene fiber
appropriately added into concrete can effectively prevent
spalling of prestressed high-strength concrete bridge girders
under fire exposure conditions, as shown in Fig. 8.
3.1.3. Prestress state
Prestress provides predominant bearing capacity in pre-
stressed concrete bridge girders, and thus prestress state is
crucial to structural performance of prestressed concrete
bridge girders. However, high-strength prestressing strands
are extremely sensitive and fragile to high temperature (Song
et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2018a, 2021a,
2021b, 2021c, 2022). The elevated temperature can lead to
the relaxation of prestressing strands under high-strength
stress state, thus causing the effective prestress greatly
reduction. The loss of prestress in prestressed concrete
bridge girders exposed to fire can instantly lead to a sudden
drop in structural stiffness and bearing capacity. In addition,
due to the poorer ductility in prestressing strands at high
temperatures compared than common steel bars, the
probability of brittle fracture is relatively high. This can lead
to the accidental collapse of prestressed concrete bridge
girders after severe fire exposure.
Therefore, effective prestress is one of the key factors
affecting fire resistance of prestressed concrete bridge girders.
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
Fig. 8 e Spalling test on polypropy concrete prestressed bridge girders. (a) Sligh spalling. (b) No spalling.
The research on the effective prestress of concrete bridge
girders under fire exposure conditions requires a great
amount of information validated through data collection of
actual bridge girders and numerous fire tests.
Currently, numbers of experimental research and theo-
retical analysis of prestressing strands under elevated-tem-
perature conditions have been carried out to investigate
mechanical properties. These researches mainly focused on
the Poisson's ratio, elastic modulus, strength and stress-strain
relationships, high-temperature creep model and related
calculation methods (Ding et al., 2015; Utting and Jones, 1987;
Wei et al., 2016; Zong et al., 2016). Zhang et al. (2022) analyzed
the degradation of mechanical properties in concrete and
steel bars together with loss of prestress within strands at
elevated temperatures. A large number of fire test data in
effective prestress originated from actual bridges was
investigated, and then reveal the basic laws and influencing
factors of degradation of effective prestress in prestressed
concrete bridge girders dependent on numerical simulation.
As shown in Fig. 9, variation of effective prestress under
anchorage with fire exposure time can be divided into three
stages, namely: the initial increase stage (the first 15 min of
fire exposure), the later decrease stage (between 15 min and
approximate 40 min of fire exposure) and the sudden
decrease stage of stress (at 40, 50, 70 min, respectively)
(Zhang et al., 2022). Further, prediction method of effective
prestress in strands within prestressed concrete bridge
girders through entire fire exposure duration was proposed.
3.1.4. Fire resistance tests on PC bridge girders
After test and analysis of prestressed concrete structures
under fire exposure conditions were finished, the overall
performance in structures has been clearly obtained
(Gustaferro and Selvaggio, 1967; Gustaferro, 1973). However,
the difficulty of tested prestressed concrete girders in fire
mainly lies in testing methods of prestress within strands.
Effective prestress in strands at room temperature can be
tested through the utilization of method dependent on
transverse-tension increments (Zhang and He, 2014). This
test method can also be used for effective prestress test of
prestressed concrete bridge girders after fire exposure.
However, this method cannot be applied on prestressed
concrete bridge girders in fire. At this stage, numerical
431
simulation methods can be used to obtain the variation law
of effective prestress in prestressed concrete bridge girders
under kinds of fire exposure conditions. The precisely
numerical model for analysis of fire behavior can be
established dependent on the validation of tested
prestressing stress under anchor. This method is applied to
analyze degeneration law of effective prestress in
prestressed concrete bridges through entire fire exposure
duration.
Zhang et al. (2022) performed a stress test under anchor in
prestressed concrete bridge girders through entire fire
exposure duration, as shown in Fig. 10. This test method can
attain the law of stress under anchor and fire-damaged
degree in prestressing strands of tested bridge girders with
fire exposure time. Furthermore, the mid-span deflection of
prestressed concrete bridge girders under and after fire
exposure conditions was measured, thus gaining the
progression rules of mid-span deflections with fire exposure
time and fire-damaged characteristics in tested bridge
girders (Zhang et al., 2022).
However, the availability and reliability of experimental
data are directly affected by control degree of test conditions
(Zhang et al., 2018a, b). These influence factors contain
cognitive characteristics of real bridge fires generated from
test staff, uniformity and stability of furnace temperature,
initial temperature rise after ignition, constancy of loading
equipment, curing age of concrete, fabrication deviation of
test bridge girders, contact ways between loading devices
and locations, sensitivity of test equipment to temperatures.
All these factors together with difficulty of hydrocarbon fire
tests on bridge griders can bring about dispersion degree of
data, and sometimes make a great difference to the
judgment of fundamental law (Zhang et al., 2018a, b).
3.1.5. Numerical simulation methods of PC bridge girders
Compared with reinforced concrete bridges, numerical
simulation methods built for analyzing prestressed concrete
bridge girders under fire exposure conditions are more typi-
cally and highly complicated (Neves et al., 1997; Capua and
Mari, 2007; Dilek, 2005; Dotreppe et al., 2005; Dwaikat and
Kodur, 2008; Franssen, 2005; Kodur and Dwaikat, 2007,
2008a, 2008b; Tang et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2017a, 2018a).
This is resulted from the inability to accurately locate
432 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446

Fig. 9 e Fire behavior of prestressing strands within prestressed concrete bridge girders under fuel fire exposure conditions.
(a) Curves of effective stress under anchorage with fire exposure time. (b) Fracture of prestressing strands (Zhang et al.,
2022).

prestress state of prestressing strands in the bridge girders. In
addition, due to the inconsistent tensile and compressive
constitutive models of concrete and the existence of
concentrated stress generated from prestressing strands, it
is relatively difficult to converge in the simulation of fire
response in prestressed concrete bridge girders. Thus,
various simulation techniques, such as utilizing multi-
methods for parallel calculation, adjusting mesh density,
and reasonably dividing load steps and so on, need to be
adopted. However, denser grid division and smaller load
step can result in more iteration, which directly lead to
prompt increase in calculation scales and storage space and,
thus severely cutting down efficiency of calculation.
Therefore, it is urgent to explore a new calculation method
and develop a new composite element to figure out the issue
of fire resistance analysis in prestressed concrete bridge
girders. The exploration and research are focused to look for
equilibrium among three aspects, namely: computing effi-
ciency, storage space and calculating accuracy. If the
computation satisfies solution accuracy, higher computing
efficiency and smaller storage space is required firstly. A large
number of nonlinear analyses indicate that nonlinear itera-
tion and convergence effect of reinforced concrete bridge
girders is better than that of prestressed concrete bridge
girders. Further, convergence law of prestressed concrete
bridge girders exhibits a certain step evolution, which brings

Fig. 10 e Measurement of prestress in strands under anchor. (a) Fire exposure test. (b) Post-fire test (Zhang et al., 2022).
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446 433

Fig. 11 e Numerical analysis models of prestressed concrete bridge girders. (a) Grade of concrete spalling (Zhang et al.,
2018b). (b) Model of box-shape bridge girder (Zhang et al., 2018b). (c) Model of T-shape bridge girder (Zhang et al., 2017b). (d)
Model of prestressing strands (Zhang et al., 2017b).

about high difficulty for capturing convergence point and
describing convergence path. Thus, various methods are
required to obtain characteristics of convergence. Zhang et al.
(2017b, 2018a) established numerical analysis models of
prestressed concrete box girder and T girder considering
high-temperature spalling in concrete and prestress state
within strands, as shown in Fig. 11. These numerical
analysis models performed a set of investigations on fire
behavior of actual prestressed concrete bridge girders.
3.1.6. Fire resistance of PC bridge girders
Information manifest that researches on fire resistance of
prestressed concrete structures started relatively early
(Gustaferro and Selvaggio, 1967), i.e., investigation on fire
resistance of prestressed concrete simply supported slabs
began in the 1960s. Scholars analyzed fire resistance of post-
tensioned prestressed concrete bridge girders and proposed
fire-resistant design method of precast prestressed concrete
bridge girders (Gustaferro and Selvaggio, 1967).
Subsequently, damage effect of template fire on bridge
structural performance during construction was studied in
the late 1990s (Neves et al., 1997). At the beginning of the
21st century, non-destructive testing techniques were
adopted to study fire damage characteristics of precast
concrete (Dilek, 2005). A nonlinear iterative calculation
method used for analysis of thermal-mechanical coupling
434 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
Fig. 12 e Fire-resistant tests on prestressed concrete bridge girders under fuel fire exposure conditions. (a) Fuel fire test. (b)
Failure mode of typical bridge girders.
effect in structures was present (Capua and Mari, 2007;
Franssen, 2005). Thereafter, numerical simulation methods
were used to analyze failure process and fire behavior of
prestressed concrete bridge girders encountering severe
local fire exposure in fire accidents (Zhang et al., 2022).
These methods were validated dependent on some fire-
resistant test of prestressed concrete bridge girders under
fuel fire exposure, as shown in Fig. 12.
Due to a severe collapse accident resulted from bridge fires
occurred in the United States in 2007, scholars (Garlock, 2008;
Kodur and Dwaikat, 2007, 2008a; Kodur et al., 2010, 2013, 2019)
performed a large number of researches on bridge fires,
pointed out numerous deficiencies in fire-resistant design of
bridge structures in the Eurocode (CEN, 2002, 2004, 2005a,
2005b), and investigated causes of bridge fires in the United
States and other countries (Kodur and Naser, 2019a, 2019b,
2021; Kodur et al., 2022). Further, dependent on investigation
of several main internal and external parameters
determining fire resistance of bridges, a reliable method as
per classification of bridges was proposed to predict safe
performance of bridges in fire hazards (Kodur and Naser,
2013; Kodur et al., 2022; Shakya and Kodur, 2015). Thereafter,
relevant design methods of fire resistance in bridge girders
together with key strategies for mitigating fire hazards in
bridges, were also presented.
Considering multi-effects of thermal expansion and high-
temperature creep, a calculation method of strain and stress
utilized for unbonded prestressing strands in fire exposure
conditions was put forward (Zheng et al., 2006a, b). Through
method using equivalent conversion of sectional rigidity
within fire-damaged sections, an equivalent section model
was established. Further, another calculation method that
can predict the bearing capacity of prestressed concrete
bridge girders and flexural members under fire exposure
conditions wad proposed (Dong and Fang, 2018). An open
environmental fire model related to bridges, considering the
environmental characteristics of bridge structures and also
introducing influence of airflow parameters, was established
to analyze fire behavior of structural members in bridges.
Thereafter, the developed numerical simulation method can
investigate deformation, failure mode, bearing capacity and
variation of effective prestress in prestressed concrete bridge
girders under fire exposure conditions (Zhang et al., 2017b).
3.2. Fire behavior of steel bridge girders
Dependent on composite characteristics of materials and
structural type, steel bridge girders can be primarily grouped
into pure-steel bridge girders and steel-concrete composite
bridge girders. Consequently, steel bridge girders are also
named as steel structural bridge girders.
In recent years, steel bridge girders have developed rapidly
and been widely used due to a number of advantages offered
over other bridge girders. These prominent advantages
involve rapid manufacturing, configuration processing, flex-
ible assembly, convenient construction and environmental
protection, etc. (Kodur and Naser, 2019a; Song et al., 2021a; Xu
and Mao, 2018; Zhang et al., 2021a). Steel bridge girders have
become the dominant area in construction and development
of future bridge. However, steel bridge girders have an
awfully fatal defect showing high vulnerability to fire. This
can stem from the superior thermal conductivity and
relatively inferior specific heat capacity in steel, thus leading
to high heat transfer and low heat storage in girder section.
Fires do a more serious threat to the safety and durability of
steel bridge girders as compared to concrete bridge girders,
and hereby cause the collapse of steel structural members
instantly. This collapse can lead to casualties relevant to
major safety accidents (Kodur and Naser, 2019a; Song et al.,
2021a; Xu and Mao, 2018; Zhang et al., 2021a).
Compared with concrete bridge girders, steel bridge girders
have large span-height ratios with small cross-section heights
and long span. Therefore, steel bridge girders present softer
structural performance due to their light weight as compared
to concrete bridge girders. Because steel bridge girders are
extremely sensitive to fire and elevated temperatures, ther-
mal buckling of steel bridge girders under fire exposure con-
ditions and high temperatures is awfully predominant. The
phenomenon exhibited in local structural failure of fire
exposed bridge span, generated from thermal buckling to
instability, is also particularly significant. In addition, due to
influence of sectional type, sectional configuration and
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
structural system, steel bridge girders with various structural
characteristics possess different failure modes under fire
exposure conditions (Aziz et al., 2015; Kodur and Naser 2019a;
Zhang et al., 2020a, 2021c).
At present, researches on fire resistance of steel structures
are mainly focused on steel components, steel frames, large
beam-column joints, section of steel-concrete and single cable
system used in buildings. These structural characteristics are
a far cry from those utilized in steel bridge girders. The three-
dimensional size is much smaller than that of steel bridge
girders. Further, there are significant gaps in fire scenarios,
structural loading characteristics, boundary conditions be-
tween steel structural member used in buildings and steel
bridge girders. Thus, most research findings cannot be directly
applied in investigation on fire resistance of steel bridge
girders (Alos-Moya et al., 2017; Beneberu and Yazdani, 2018,
2019; Du et al., 2018, 2019; Huo et al., 2017; Garlock et al.,
2012; Gong, 2015; Kodur et al., 2013; Kodur and Naser, 2019b;
Li et al., 2017, 2020; Song et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2015; Zhan
et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2020a, 2020b, 2021b; Zhou et al.,
2018; Zhu et al., 2020).
3.2.1. High-temperature properties in materials used for steel
bridge girders
Occurrence of high-strength steel facilitates rapid develop-
ment of steel bridge girders. Steel bridge girders are fabricated
using various high-strength materials including high-strength
weather-resistant steel, high-strength concrete and high-
strength prestressing strands, whose high-temperature
characteristics determine sectional temperature distribution
and structural mechanical behavior in steel bridge girders.
Numerous research results have been achieved on elevated-
temperature mechanical properties of high-performance
structural steel, welds, bolt, sockets, concrete and prestress-
ing strands along with other related materials (Kodur et al.,
2022). There are also plenty of researches on high-
temperature creep in steel and prestressing strands (Du
et al., 2018; Huo et al., 2017; Li et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2015;
Zhu et al., 2020).
In the past few years, high-temperature properties in high-
strength steel have been widely deserved to attention. Li et al.
(2017) studied mechanical properties of high-strength Q690
steel (yield strength of 690 MPa) after fire exposure, and
proposed the calculation formulas for mechanical properties
of Q690 steel cooled through air and water flow. Wang et al.
(2015) analyzed post-fire mechanical properties of high-
strength Q460 steel (yield strength of 460 MPa) and, found
that when temperature exceeds 600  C, mechanical
properties of high-strength Q460 steel attenuate
significantly. Du et al. (2018) investigated mechanical
properties of high-strength prestressing steel cables at
elevated temperatures, and obtained effective yield strength
and stress-strain curves during entire fire exposure. Zhang
et al. (2017c) studied high-temperature mechanical
properties of welds, and discovered that form of welds
exerts an impact on fire resistance of welds at elevated
temperatures. Wei et al. (2016) discussed high-temperature
creep properties of prestressing strands and obtained
435
variation law of high-temperature creep. Zhu et al. (2020)
performed a fire test on prestressing cable sockets used in
long-span bridge structures. These fire tests presented an
investigation on sectional temperature distribution and slip
law in anchoring system, and obtained relationship between
prestress level and fire resistance in cables. Huo et al. (2017)
undertook an investigation on combustion characteristics of
steel cables, and then analyzed mechanical properties of
steel strands. Zong et al. (2016) conducted tests on
mechanical properties of 1860 grade steel strands at elevated
temperatures, and recommended tensile force-displacement
curves and stress-strain curves in steel wires at high tem-
peratures. Zhang et al. (2019), Song et al. (2021c) and Li et al.
(2021) conducted a test on high-strength steel used in steel
bridge girders prepared under hydrocarbon fire exposure
conditions in furnace, as shown in Fig. 13.
However, there are relatively little information on high-
temperature properties of high-strength weather-resistant
steels used in steel bridges. The effect of heating rate, cooling
rate and temperature peak on high-temperature performance
of material is also more obvious, which directly affects orig-
inal composition of high-strength weather-resistant steel
(Garlock et al., 2012; Kodur and Nazer, 2019a, 2019b, 2021; Song
et al., 2021a, b, c; Zhang et al., 2020b, 2021a, 2021b, 2022).
Therefore, properties of high-strength weather-resistant
steel under different temperatures are still required
continuous attentions to undertake numerous fire tests.
3.2.2. Heat transfer behavior
Because bridges are located in the open space, the fire envi-
ronment is changing with fire exposure time when encoun-
tering fire, i.e., high temperature originated from fire in an
open space is always affected by wind speed, thus convective
heat transfer coefficients of windward and leeward sides in
bridge structures are significantly different. Zhang and He
(2014) investigated temperature distribution of the windward
and leeward sides on high hollow thin-walled piers, and
then found that temperature on the windward side was
much higher than that on the leeward side. This difference
can cause unsynchronization in deformation of windward
surface and leeward surface of steel plates used in steel
bridge girders subjected to fire exposure. In addition, heat
radiation mechanisms inside steel box girders and, between
steel plates girders, under different fire exposure conditions
are different. This affects temperature distribution in cross
section of steel bridge girders. Du et al. (2019) studied
thermal radiation inside cable cavity and detected that
cavity had a great influence on temperature distributed in
cable section. Zhang et al. (2020a) selected a typical steel-
concrete box bridge girder and built a numerical model to
analyze temperature distribution within close girder section.
This numerical model was validated through a scaled steel-
concrete girder under fire exposure conditions. The thermal
radiation inside close box steel section is different as
compared to I-shape girder. Therefore, the effective
coefficients were obtained to simulate heat transfer inside
box-shape steel girders. Song et al. (2021c) undertook a fire
test on steel-concrete bridge girders fabricated using three
436 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
Fig. 13 e Test on high-strength used in steel bridge girders. (a) Measurement of tensile strength. (b) Failure mode.
shapes namely; single I-shape, twin I-shape, and box shape,
as shown in Fig. 14, and then found that heat transfer
coefficients in three-type shapes were different. Box shape
section possessed smaller heat radiation coefficients as
compared to other two type shapes.
When oil tanker trucks are struck by other vehicles, the
fuel sometimes slowly streams and covers the surface of steel
bridge girders. There is a great difference on heat radiation
and conduction between surface of steel bridge girders with
fuel coverage and without fuel coverage when subjected to
fire. This also leads to variation of sectional temperature dis-
tribution in steel bridge girders, thus causing differently local
buckling and instability of the same steel members even if
exposed to identical temperature conditions (Kodur and
Naser, 2019b; Song et al., 2021a, b, c).
3.2.3. Bonding performance between steel and concrete at
high temperatures
There are many types of steel bridge girders, including steel
box girders, steel-truss girders and steel-concrete composite
girders. These steel bridge girders all involve connection be-
tween steel members and concrete slabs. Since steel and
concrete bear structural loadings together in steel-concrete
composite bridge girders, high temperature has a great effect
on bonding performance on interface of steel-concrete com-
posite girders. In steel-concrete composite girders, interface
connection between steel and concrete is realized through
shear studs or other shear connectors. Zhan et al. (2014)
studied the sliding and lifting effects of steel-concrete
composite bridge decks, and found that the sliding and
lifting effects of steel-concrete composite bridge deck using
perforated steel plate shear connectors were slight at room
temperature. Song et al. (2021c) performed a fuel fire test on
steel-concrete composite bridge girders and investigated
bonding performance between steel girder and concrete
slab. These tested bridge girders were fabricated using high-
strength steel girder and prestressing concrete slabs, as
shown in Fig. 15.
Shear studs used in steel-concrete composite bridge
girders mainly possess two types namely; clustered and
distributed shear studs. For clustered studs, in the area
without shear studs, steel and concrete are connected using
structural glue. This glue can decompose and fail at high
temperatures and thus leading to separation between steel
and concrete suffered from fire exposure. Conversely, the
distributed shear studs can firmly connect steel with concrete
when composite bridge girders exposed to fire. Therefore, the
distributed shear studs can enhance fire resistance of steel-
concrete composite bridge girders, and this is validated
through numerous fire resistance tests (Kodur and Naser,
2019b). Also, Song et al. (2021c) found that the distributed
shear studs were reliable to ensure no slips between steel
girder and concrete slab dependent on fuel fire test on steel-
concrete composite bridge girders, as shown in Fig. 16.
3.2.4. Fire resistance tests on steel bridge girders
A fire test on steel bridge girders located in an open and un-
inhabited area was carried out to measure temperature dis-
tribution of steel plate-concrete composite girders when
exposed to elevated temperature zone of flame. Thereafter,
the mutual coupling interface effect between flame and
structural surface was analyzed to determine the heat con-
duction coefficients (Alos-Moya et al., 2017; Beneberu and
Yazdani, 2018, 2019; Li et al., 2020). Due to the difficulty and
limitation of selection for determining environmental
locations performing fire test, most of tests in fire exposed
and post-fire bridge structure are conducted in the
laboratory based on the scale models. These tested data,
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
Fig. 14 e Fire test on steel-concrete bridge girders. (a) Single I-shape. (b) Twin I-shape. (c) Box shape.
generated from fire tests in furnace, cannot simulate effect of
ambient wind speeds and actual bridge structures including
supports, piers together with integral connections.
Therefore, how to achieve environmental effect of bridge
fires and boundary conditions in the actual bridge structure is
a hard crack nut at present. Fire tests in furnace can only
measure and simulate various standard fire scenarios and
pre-set fire curves, and thus obtaining deflection character-
istics of tested girders through built-in observation window
and pre-installed high-temperature camera. Kodur and Naser
(2019a) performed fire tests in furnace on steel plate-concrete
composite girders and gain buckling shape of steel girders
through observation window. Due to the difficulty of stress-
sensing tests at high temperatures, stresses in fire exposed
bridge girders can be achieved hardly. However, fire tests in
furnace can be performed easily using varying structural
parameter with different configurations to attain abundant
data compared than expensive environment fire tests. These
test data can provide basis and model validation for
theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of actual steel
bridge girders under real fire exposure scenarios.
3.2.5. Numerical models of steel bridge girders
Due to the limitation of fire tests in furnace, i.e., scaled steel
bridge girders and simplification of structural configuration
and systems, a number of data in actual bridge structures
exposed to fire cannot be directly obtained. Consequently, it is
required to develop reliable numerical prediction methods,
437
conducting predictive analysis based on experimental vali-
dation, to investigate fire behavior of steel bridge girders
(Zhang et al., 2021b, c). Kodur and Shakya (2014), Kodur and
Naser (2019b) has developed numerical calculation methods
to analyze fire resistance of beams used in prefabricated
structures. Zhang et al. (2020a) developed a numerical
method for analyzing fire behavior of steel-concrete
composite box bridge girders. This numerical model was
built using computer program ANSYS and provided some
analysis detail including meshing of girders, determination
of substeps and application of boundary conditions. As a
result, it can be successfully applied to determine sectional
temperature distribution, and mid-span deflection together
with failure mode, as shown in Fig. 17. Song et al. (2021a)
established a three-dimensional nonlinear two-stage
analysis model to simulate fire behavior of an actual three-
span continuous curved steel-concrete composite box bridge
girder under real hydrocarbon fire scenarios. Mid-span
deflections of fire exposed to steel-concrete box bridge
girders under different structural-loading scenarios are
obtained, as shown in Fig. 18.
When the fact combines actual bridges, the numerical
method is required to build for analyzing fire behavior of steel
bridge girders under real fire scenarios. Therefore, the devel-
opment of prediction methods on fire behavior in steel bridge
girders can integrate the coupling influence of airflow in
environment and structures. Thermal and mechanical pa-
rameters in all materials together with heat transfer
438 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
Fig. 15 e Bonding performance between steel girder and
concrete slab under fuel fire exposure conditions.
conditions are taken into consideration to perform a predic-
tive analysis. Numerical simulation and predictive analysis of
fire behavior in steel bridge girders is quite difficult. This can
be attributed to the fact that steel bridge girders possess
extremely complex sectional configuration, i.e., Longitudinal
and lateral stiffeners and transverse diaphragms distributed
in girders. This structural complexity can produce a large
number of elements along with nodes, thus increasing diffi-
culty of ultra-high order nonlinear iterative analysis and
decreasing working efficiency of computer (Kodur et al., 2019;
Zhang et al., 2021b). Numerous analysis details primarily
including density of meshes, application of boundary
conditions and division of load steps, affect the
Fig. 16 e No slips between steel girder and concrete slab under fuel fire exposure conditions.
convergence, and even seriously deprive validity on analysis
of fire behavior in steel bridge girders. Consequently, long-
term nonlinear analysis experience and repeated trial
calculations are required to accumulate for application of
figuring out the issues. Zhang and He (2014) and Zhang et al.
(2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2020a, 2020b, 2021a, 2021b, 2021c, 2022)
established a set of nonlinear analysis methods together
with empirical iteration technique validated fire test to
successfully perform a series of investigations on fire
behavior of actual steel bridge girders.
3.2.6. Fire resistance of steel bridge girders
In the past few decades, most researches focus on various
steel beams, columns and joints used in the buildings. There
are relatively few achievements on fire resistance of steel
bridge girders. Gao et al. (2017) investigated residual bearing
capacity of T-shaped joints in steel pipes filled with concrete
after fire exposure. The findings exhibited that the residual
bearing capacity of T-shaped joints in steel pipes filled with
concrete was more than three times that of empty steel
pipes after fire exposure. Du and Lu (2013) analyzed
mechanical properties of steel cable during heating process,
and then proposed a calculation method computing force of
cable at elevated temperatures. Zhou et al. (2018) proposed a
finite element model, based on the general finite element
program ABAQUS, to simulate the nonlinear behavior of
continuous prestressed steel-concrete composite beams
(used in buildings) under fire exposure conditions. Xu and
Mao (2018) conducted numerical analyses on fire resistance
of steel-concrete composite beams, calculating deformation
of steel box beams under ISO834 and HC fire exposure
conditions. Ju et al. (2019) established a fire scene utilizing
FDS, analyzing temperature distribution and heating curves,
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446 439

Fig. 17 e Numerical model for analyzing fire behavior of steel-concrete composite box bridge girders. (a) Discretization for
thermal model. (b) Discretization for structural model (Zhang et al., 2020a).

and further determined temperature characteristics of bridge

girders used in railways in case of fire, and also presented fire-
safety height under bridges. Song et al. (2020) provided an
approach, considering flexural-torsional-shear coupling
effect, to investigate fire behavior in horizontal curved
continuous composite bridge girders exposed to localized
hydrocarbon fire.
The fire behavior in steel bridge girders depends on
sectional configuration and various structural characteristics
along with structural systems. Currently, the critical problems
of fire resistance in steel bridge girders are mainly focused on
local buckling in steel members. Further, steel-truss bridge
girders under fire exposure conditions are prone to exhibit
fracture and instability in steel trusses, as shown in Fig. 19.
Focusing on local buckling behavior and overall structural
behavior in steel bridge girders, Song et al. (2021c) conducted
tests on fire response of large-scaled steel-concrete
composite bridge girders under fuel fire exposure conditions
similar to hydrocarbon fire scenarios, as shown in Fig. 20.
Also, steel-concrete composite bridge girders with different
height-span and web slenderness under fuel fire exposure
conditions was investigated to provide fire resistance design
methods and improve safe performance when subjected to
fire hazards, as shown in Fig. 21.
4. Strategies for enhancing fire resistance of
bridge girders
Fire behavior of bridge girders has been investigated to pro-
vide a method of accurate evaluation and prompt reinforce-
ment for fire-damaged bridge girders and, then present
effective strategies for enhancing fire resistance of bridge
girders together with mitigating fire hazards in bridges.
A chain of assessment methods, including damage mea-
surement method of material, load-test method, damage-
speculation method, fire-scene-recovery method, empirical
determination method and comprehensive evaluation
method, can be basically utilized to attain fire-damaged state
of bridge girders through independent or combined applica-
tion (Li et al., 2021; Song et al., 2021a, b, c). Mechanical
behavior of bridge girders during and after fire exposure is
required to ensure assessment accurately and
quantitatively. Reliable methods can make the evaluation
process fast and accurate, economical and reasonable.
However, blind or excessive evaluation can lead to the
aggravation of subsequent repair and reinforcement
assignments (Garlock et al., 2012; Kodur et al., 2013; Kodur
and Naser, 2013, 2019a, 2021; Song et al., 2021a). This, in
440 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446

Fig. 18 e Numerical simulation of typical three-span continuous curved steel-concrete composite box bridge girder under
hydrocarbon fire exposure conditions. (a) Finite element model. (b) Load to deflection curves under different fire exposure
time. (c) Mid-span deflections under different load levels (Song et al., 2021a).

turn, results in the occurrence of traffic accidents, generated
from detour and long closures in traffic, and a great deal of
economic losses.
When accurate assessment on fire damaged bridges is
finished, the emergency treatment measures are required to
meet original bearing performance of bridges. Emergency
treatment measures for post-fire bridges include three aspects
namely; slight rehabilitation for minor damaged bridges,
detailed repair for moderate-damaged bridges, and rein-
forcement and reconstruction for severe-damaged bridges.
Repair and reinforcement of post-fire bridge can be applied
using two methods, embracing repair and reinforcement in
materials used in bridges together with retrofitting of struc-
tural systems. This repair and reinforcement technologies are
composed of common and composite approaches mentioned
above. In conclusion, regardless of any approaches applied,
the key factors are originated from accurate determination in
extent of damage.
Fire resistance of bridge girders is critical to ensure full-life
construction and safe service through entire pre-design pe-
riods. Investigation of fire behavior on bridge girders has been
applied to enhance fire resistance to meet different demand
indicators in case of fire hazards. Active protection has been
taken into considerations to prevent bridge structures from
threat of fire and high temperature as much as possible. Once
active protection fails, passive protection is obliged to play a
great role for preventing collapse. Fire-resistant limit of bridge
girders based on structural safety performance of structural
members in bridges is the last barrier of defense in passive
protection. If this barrier is breached, bridge structures can
collapse or fail instantly.
Because bridge structures with long mileage and large
amounts are built across straits and villages along with brutal
geological conditions. This straits and villages are commonly
located in complex and changeable natural environment.
Therefore, required protective materials and devices for active
protection are significantly expensive. The validity period in
the utilized protective materials and devices is difficult to be
guaranteed in open circumstance, and thus the cost-effective
protective achievements cannot be attained.
The requirements for fire resistance design of bridge
girders have not still been incorporated into the current
design and construction codes of bridges (ASTM, 2014a, b; BSI,
1987; CEN, 2002, 2004, 2005a, 2005b). This can be attributed the
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446 441

Fig. 19 e Fire behaviour in steel truss bridge girders under hydrocarbon fire exposure conditions. (a) Hydrocarbon fire test.
(b) Large deflection at mid-span. (c) Local buckling in trusses. (d) Fracture of trusses.

fact that bridge structure and fire exposure conditions are
complicated and decay mechanism in fire behavior of
various bridge structures encountered different fire
scenarios has not been fully investigated. Kodur and Naser
(2019b) have provided guidelines for classification in fire-
resistant design of steel bridges, that take into account the
effects of importance of bridge, load level along with fire-
resistant materials (Balaji et al., 2016; Naser and Kodur,
2015). Li et al. (2021) proposed strategies for fire-resistant
design in steel bridge girders using illustration of flowing
chart. Zhang et al. (2017a, 2017b, 2017c, 2020a, 2020b, 2021a,
2021b, 2022) performed a sequence of analysis on fire
behavior of girders used in bridges, and obtained fire
resistance of structural members in bridge girders under fire
exposure conditions. Fire-resistant time and failure
characteristics of typical bridge structures are summarized

Fig. 20 e Local buckling in continuous steel bridge girders under hydrocarbon fire exposure conditions. (a) Box-shape steel
bridge girder. (b) Twin I-shape steel bridge girder (Song et al., 2021c).
442 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446

5. Future research area in fire behavior of

bridges

(1) Approaches of numerical simulation on fire behaviors of

Fig. 21 e Comparison of mid-span deflection in I-shape
steel bridge girders with different height-span ratios and
web slenderness under fuel fire exposure conditions (Song
et al., 2021c).
in Table 2. The contents in this table involves bridge types,
structural characteristics, fire resistance, and Failure
criterion and mode.
complicated bridge girders can be improved to accurately
analyze fire resistance and failure mode when bridges
subjected to fire exposures, especially for actual pre-
stressed concrete bridge girders and steel bridge girders
under different real fire exposure scenarios.
(2) Methods of fire-resistant tests on bridge girders sub-
jected to real fire exposure conditions at open circum-
stances can be undertaken to investigate fire resistance
of actual bridge girders in detail.
(3) Assessment methods of bridge girders after fire expo-
sure can be improved, especially rapid safety evaluation
system of multi-hazard coupling effect, so as to prevent
economic losses and casualties caused by unreliable
and delayed fire-damaged assessments.
(4) Fire-resistant design strategies for bridge structures,
such as stipulations, regulations and specifications, can
be incorporated into related design criteria and con-
struction codes in bridges.
(5) Intelligent fire prevention and mitigation systems are
required to develop for application in key bridges,
specially super-long span bridge girders, to improve

Table 2 e Fire resistance and failure characteristics of bridge structures under fire exposure conditions.
Bridge type Structural
characteristics
Concrete structural Reinforced concrete
bridge bridge girders
Prestressed concrete
bridge girders
Steel structure bridge Steel bridge girders
Steel plate-concrete
composite bridge girders
Steel-concrete
composite box bridge
girders
Steel truss-concrete
composite bridge girders
Cable-stayed bridge Cable-stayed bridge
Suspension bridge
Arch bridge
Fire Failure criterion and mode
resistance (min)
45e200 Failure criterion of deflection is approximate to L/20. There is an
obvious deflection and severe concrete crushing together with
spalling when girders fail.
40e160 T-shaped girders are more vulnerable to failure than box-shaped
girders. Failure criteria of deflection is approximate to L/35.There
are fracture of prestressing strands and severe concrete crushing
along with spalling when girders fail.
20e30 Failure criterion of deflection is approximate to L/25. There is
significant buckling in steel plate and obvious deformation before
girders are in failure.
20e35 Failure criterion of deflection is approximate to L/25. There is
significant buckling in steel plate and large deformation before
girders fail.
25e35 Failure criterion of deflection is approximate to L/25. There is a
manifest buckling in steel plate and large deformation before
girders fail.
15e25 Failure criteria of deflection in truss and overall structures are
about L/5 and L/100, respectively. The final failure mainly caused by
an overall structural and fracture instability due to local buckling in
trusses.
20e60 There are significant deflections in bridge girders and slipping or
breaking at location of anchorages of cables. The final failure
pattern mainly exhibits a large deflection or torsion of girders due
to the failure of stayed cables.
20e55 There are significant deflections in bridge girders and sling slipping
or breaking at location of anchorages. The final failure pattern
mainly exhibits a large deflection or torsion of girders due to the
failure of sling.
25e70 There are significant deflections in bridge girders and sling slipping
or breaking at location of anchorages. The final failure pattern
mainly exhibits a large deflection or torsion of girders due to the
failure of sling.
 J. Traffic Transp. Eng. (Engl. Ed.) 2022; 9 (3): 422e446
proactive protection measures and emergency response
capability when subjected to severe fire hazards.
(6) Prediction and analysis strategies for mechanical
behavior generated from multi-hazards coupling effects
(wind-fire-impact, fire-quake-impact, blast-fire-impact-
corrosion) of bridge girders are in need of build to
enhance multi-disasters resistance in bridges.
6. Conclusions
(1) Cause and consequences of fire occurred on bridge
girders are investigated to emphasize the seriousness of
bridge fires resulting from hydrocarbon fires.
(2) Concrete spalling and prestress state has a significant
influence on fire resistance of prestressed concrete
bridge girders. Methods for fire resistance tests and
numerical simulation are crucial to analyze fire
behavior of prestressed concrete bridge girders.
(3) High-temperature characteristics of materials along
with cross-sectional heat transfer mechanism and
composite behavior between steel and concrete at
elevated temperatures are reviewed and discussed to
enhance fire resistance of steel bridge girders.
(4) Prestressed concrete bridge girders with thin webs
under fire exposure conditions are more fragile than
other shape concrete bridge girders. Therefore, spalling
resistance in concrete and prevention of prestress loss
is critical to prestressed concrete bridge girders with
thin webs.
(5) Steel-truss bridge girders are vulnerable to fire and then
fail within a few of minutes compared any other bridge
girders. Thus, fire resistance of steel-truss bridge girders
is required to investigate in detail and improve highly.
(6) Methods of evaluating and reinforcement along with
fire-resistant design are discussed to develop strategies
for enhancing fire resistance of bridge girders. Further,
fire-resistant time and failure characteristic in types of
bridges are summarized and provided to highlight sig-
nificant differences of fire resistance in different bridge
girders.
(7) Future research areas in fire behavior are provided to
prompt development of fire resistance in bridges and,
ensure structural safety performance of bridges sub-
jected to severe fire hazards.
Conflict of interest
The authors do not have any conflict of interest with other
entities or researchers.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the support from National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51878057,
52078043), Shaanxi Science Foundation for Distinguished
Young Scholars (Grant No. 2022JC-23), and Fundamental
443
Research Funds for the Central Universities-CHD (Grant No.
300102212907, 300102210217), Michigan State University and
Southeast University. Any opinions, finds, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this review paper are chose of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
sponsors.
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Zheng, W., Xu, M., Shi, D., et al., 2006a. Experimental study on Zelei Lu is a PhD student in bridge engi-
spalling of concrete of prestressed slabs in fire. China Civil neering, Chang'an University. His research
Engineering Journal 39 (10), 48e53. focuses on the fire behavior of suspension
Zheng, W., Xu, M., Yang, J., et al., 2006b. Experimental analysis of bridge, mainly including the damage mech-
anti-fire capacity of simply supported prestressed concrete anism of cables under fire exposure condi-
slabs. Journal of Building Structures 27 (6), 48e59. tions, and fire resistance of suspension
Zhou, H., Zhang, Z., Hao, C., et al., 2018. Fire resistance of bridge.
prestressed continuous steel-concrete composite beams.
Journal of Chang’an University (Natural Science Edition) 38
(6), 40e48.
Zhu, M., Meng, F., Zhang, H., et al., 2020. Fire tests on prestressed
cable sockets. China Journal of Highway and Transport 33 (1),
111e119.
Zong, Z., Zhang, J., Jiang, D., et al., 2016. Experimental research on Chaojie Song is a PhD student in bridge en-
the mechanical properties of steel strand wire at elevated gineering, Chang'an University. His research
temperature. Building Science 32 (1), 43e47. focuses on fire performance of bridge struc-
ture, damage assessment of bridge structure
after fire exposure and fire-resistance design
of bridge. He has authored over 30 peer-
Dr. Gang Zhang is a university distinguished reviewed papers in journals and confer-
professor at Chang'an University and serves ences, mainly including 8 SCI-indexed and 5
as director of Research Center on Bridge EI-indexed journal articles.
Extreme Loading and Protection. He is a
fellow of the International Association of
Advanced Materials. His research has
focused on the experimental behavior,
analytical modeling and numerical predic- Xuyang Li is a PhD student in bridge engi-
tion of bridge structure under extreme fire neering, Chang'an University. His research
exposure conditions, constitutive modelling interests include fire behavior of steel
of material properties at high temperatures, bridges, and post-fire residual bearing ca-
fire-resistant design of bridge structure, and bridge collapsed in- pacity of steel bridges. His research findings
vestigations. He has developed fundamental understanding on have been reported in 5 technical papers.
the behavior of bridge structure and materials subjected to
extreme fire hazards. His research accomplishments, in the field
of bridge fire safety and material at elevated temperatures, has
great contribution and major impacts to improve development of
disaster-prevention and mitigation in transport infrastructure.
Prof. Zhang, along with his students and collaborates, has led to
over 130 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences. The
most recent contribution from Zhang is a new text book on “Bridge Chenhao Tang is a PhD student in bridge
Structure Fire Theory and Calculation Method” published by engineering, Chang'an University. His main
China Communications Press. research interests are focused on failure
mechanism of steel-truss bridge under fire
exposure conditions and fire-resistance
Xiaocui Zhao is a PhD student in bridge en- design method of steel-truss bridges. His
gineering, Chang'an University. Her research research findings have been reported in 4
focuses on the fire resistance of cable technical papers.
anchorage system, mainly including fire
vulnerability analysis of cable and, failure
mechanism of anchorage system in cable
under fire exposure conditions.