Seismic Vulnerability and Sustainability Assessment of Transportation-Adjacent Buildings
This project examines how buildings located near major transportation corridors may affect roadway access and emergency response following earthquakes. While most transportation resilience efforts focus on bridges and road infrastructure, damage to adjacent buildings can also create significant disruptions due to falling hazards, debris, and partial collapse.
The project will identify and evaluate buildings located along key transportation routes and assess their potential to obstruct sidewalks, traffic lanes, and emergency access. Using field and desktop observations, the research team will document visible structural characteristics, irregularities, and exterior hazards such as parapets, façade elements, and attachments that may pose risks during seismic events.
The collected data will be used to develop a practical screening framework that links building vulnerability to transportation impacts. The project will also generate maps and summary tools to help agencies identify high-risk locations and prioritize mitigation strategies.
The outcome of this research will provide transportation agencies with a simple and effective method to assess how adjacent buildings may influence corridor resilience and post-earthquake mobility.
The project will produce a practical screening framework that can be used by transportation agencies to identify buildings located near roadways that may create hazards following earthquakes.
The research will generate a structured dataset of buildings along selected corridors, including documented structural characteristics, visible hazards, and estimated transportation impacts.
Additional outputs will include summary tables and GIS-based maps highlighting locations where building damage may affect sidewalks, traffic lanes, and emergency access.
The project will also result in a final technical report, a practitioner-oriented brief, and publicly available tools that support decision-making for infrastructure resilience and emergency planning.
This project will improve the ability of transportation agencies to identify buildings located near roadways that may create hazards following earthquakes. By linking building vulnerability to transportation impacts, the research will help agencies better understand where sidewalks, traffic lanes, and emergency access may be affected.
The results will support more informed decision-making for inspection, planning, and mitigation, allowing agencies to prioritize locations with higher risk. This can lead to improved safety for the public, more reliable transportation operations, and faster emergency response following seismic events.
In addition, the project will provide a practical and easy-to-use screening approach that can be applied without complex analysis, making it useful for a wide range of agencies and practitioners. The outcomes are expected to support long-term improvements in corridor resilience, reduce potential disruptions, and contribute to more efficient use of resources.
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San José State University One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192 Phone: 408-924-7560 Email: mineta-institute@sjsu.edu
