A Method to Determine Ship-Bridge Collision Force on the Basis of Probability Principles

This paper presents a new method to determine the ship-bridge collision force based on the principles of probability. Previous methods either calculates the maximum possible force regardless the probability, or calculates the probability of collision separately without force. The new method in this paper links the collision force with its occurring probability. With this method, bridge designers will be able to determine the reasonable collision force corresponding to an adopted occurring probability or return period.