Simulation of Ship Fire under Vasco da Gama Bridge

The importance of the cable-stayed Vasco da Gama Bridge, located over the main navigational channel of the Tagus River, is such that its behavior under a ship fire accident should be assessed. Based on the volume of hydrocarbon products transported by typical oil tankers, models of the design fire situations were developed. The characteristics of those fires, along with the radiation, convection, and conduction thermal transfers, were considered in a numerical thermal analysis of the bridge deck to estimate the evolution of the temperatures in the cross section during the fire, and to assess the safety time for the structure.