EVALUATION OF SAFETY OF LIFELINES IN SEISMIC AREAS

This paper describes the safety evaluation of lifeline systems in seismic areas, Specifically, important issues in the evaluation of safety and the effect of the geometry of a lifeline network on safety are discussed. Different potential types of earthquake hazards that may cause failure in a lifeline system are described. The significance of seismic reliability in the geometrical design of a lifeline system is presented. Furthermore, the importance of such factors as the population as well the seismicity of different areas, through which a lifeline passes, in design are discussed. The impact of a lifeline failure upon post—earthquake hazards and methods to minimize the risk of failure are also presented in the paper