EXPERIMENTS OF TSUNAMI FORCE ACTING ON BRIDGE MODELS

The fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900 was happened on December 26, 2004, off the west coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. A Japanese group of researchers led by the first author departed to Banda Aceh and surrounding areas. One of the bridges surveyed is Ulee Lheue Bridge in Banda Aceh, near the north coast. The bridge is still functioning although the girders were displaced 35 cm laterally near the abutment. Experimental tests were carried out to measure the hydrodynamic force on a bridge model. Different levels of tsunami amplitude and floating debris were incorporated. The effect of breakwaters in front of the bridge was also studied.