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The transport infrastructure was majorly affected by the 14th November 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake. Severe vertical and horizontal peak ground accelerations generated high inertial forces, land-slides, and liquefaction. Most of the bridges in the Hurunui, Malborough and Kaikōura districts were critical nodes to the railway and road networks. In total, 904 road bridges across those districts were affected. Two reached the life safety limit state, suffering severe damage, however, most of the affected bridges experienced only minor to moderate damage. This paper describes the structural performance of the most severely damaged bridges based on observations made from site inspections. In addition to this, several performance issues have arisen from this event and are posed in this paper, hopefully to be addressed in the near future.

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Intumescent coatings (ICs) are often used for protecting steel buildings during a fire when the structural, aesthetic, and architectural features of the structural members should be preserved. Indeed, ICs form a thin protective layer on the steel surface, that if exposed to fire or elevated temperatures, expands in volume with a consequent reduction in density. Hence, the protective layer captivates heat and protects the structural member from damage or elevated deformation. This reactive fire protection is designed using prescriptive tables, in which the IC thickness is chosen according to the required fire resistance, critical temperature, and section factor of the steel element. These tables are elaborated on the basis of the tests results according to the UNI EN 13381-8 standard, which is the reference for characterizing reactive systems such as ICs. For its reactive nature, this fire protection has to be applied to the structure in a controlled manner, and it is good practice to verify its correct application by measuring thickness and adhesion in situ through regulated methods. The qualification process of IC systems in Italy can be realized through a voluntary certification within the scope of a European technical assessment or by means of a national technical assessment certificate that is mandatory. All these aspects related to qualification, assessment, and design of ICs are often ignored by both designers and manufacturers, especially in Italy. Therefore, this paper describes all the approaches, introducing the main technical differences, in order to provide a sort of guideline on the use of these reactive fire protections.

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