PSI - Issue 78

Guerino Liberatore et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1071–1078

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The following paragraph will present a new methodology designed as a tool to support the decision-making body. Unlike current practices in the transport sector, this approach involves the support of a service provider in assigning routes to emergency vehicles originating from specific locations and heading toward areas near the earthquake epicenter. It also aims to assist in the management of potential outflows and large-scale evacuations. In particular, the methodology will detail possible trajectories along which to send specific types of vehicles, depending on their mass and dimensions, and taking into account the presence of damage to road structures and infrastructure along the intended route. The analysis focuses on the initial scenario immediately following the earthquake, with the possibility of anticipating a second scenario that, after a certain period of time, confirms or partially modifies the first, based on technical inspections conducted by road operator personnel. 5.2. Technical Triage Through a computer tool based on a GIS environment, which integrates advanced intelligent functionalities, it is possible - within minutes after an earthquake - to perform a "triage" of road infrastructure and provide a preliminary assessment of road passability. This assessment, which must later be confirmed or corrected through on-site technical inspections, concerns the road sections that may be strategically important in the first hours following the event. The present work aims to offer an additional contribution by proposing a methodology that, on the one hand, enhances emergency planning, and on the other, optimizes operational management, ensuring an effective emergency response. Specifically, in a first phase, the algorithm acquires data regarding the intensity and spatial location of the seismic event and develops a model of the road network, activating several possible routes. These routes are segments of the highway and main road network that connect the epicenter (or a nearby area) to surrounding locations, typically provincial capitals or other designated coordination centers for emergency deployment.

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Fig. 2. Network model: (a) routes, sections and nodes, (b) primary route A-X, (c) secondary route A-X, (d) primary route B-X, (e) secondary route B-X.

Once these destination points and the epicenter are identified —defined as "external nodes" (node A, B, C, … X)— the algorithm identifies additional "intermediate nodes", mainly corresponding to road intersections (node 1, 2, 3, …). The system then builds a network composed of a set of "links" or "segments", i.e., roads connecting consecutive nodes. These nodes and segments are used to map all the possible routes, with a focus on identifying the "optimal routes", which are classified as "primary" or "alternative" based on travel time criteria (see Fig.2). In practice, the algorithm draws a detailed map in which each road segment represents a potential part of a usable route. Each road segment is then discretized into fixed-length subsections (1,000 meters), which may include one or more point components