Bridge Failures Caused by Flood: A Case Study of Balochistan

The flood caused by the heavy rainfall during July and August 2022 in Balochistan led to massive and widespread damage to the infrastructure and lifelines. A total of 6953.83 km of roads and 435 bridges were damaged in Pakistan. To prevent such losses and create a climate-resilient transport infrastructure system by creating bridges strong enough to endure various natural challenges with minimal harm and swiftly recover their functionality, this study used the data from 35 flood-affected bridges in Balochistan as a case study to create patterns and relationships between flood disaster and bridge failure mechanisms. Using qualitative data from field visits, the bridges were statistically analyzed for failure modes such as geological and structural failure, and for damage states including slight, moderate, extensive, and completely washed out. Then all possible failures in each component of the substructure and superstructure were observed. After data interpretation, it was disclosed that most bridges were moderately damaged, accounting for 37.14% of the total, with 62.86% experiencing a combination of geological and structural failures. The abutments, wing walls, and approaches were identified as the most affected components. Based on these findings, practical recommendations are proposed to mitigate the possible failures due to floods.