The Importance of Roads and Road Infrastructure in Managing Post-Earthquake Fire Emergencies (Case Study: Tehran Province)

One of the anticipated crises for the Tehran metropolitan area, as a densely populated capital with compact urban development, aging building stock, and high seismic potential, is fire following earthquake. In the management of post-earthquake fire disasters, roads and road transportation infrastructure play a vital role as the primary routes for evacuation, emergency response, and the movement of rescue and firefighting forces. Therefore, effective management of the road transportation network can significantly contribute to reducing human casualties and economic losses.This study focuses on bridges located along the major corridors of Tehran–Pardis, Tehran–Firuzkuh, Tehran–Saveh, Tehran–Qom, Tehran–Garmsar, Tehran–Shahriar, and Firuzkuh–Semnan within Tehran Province, based on data provided by the Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization. Using field surveys, GIS-based spatial identification of bridge locations, and completion of inspection checklists, the study evaluates the availability of alternative routes and the feasibility of constructing alternative routes (either local/point-based or corridor-based) for selected bridges according to defined criteria. The analysis of 122 inspection records identifies the status of each bridge in terms of access to alternative routes and reveals which corridors contain bridges lacking suitable alternatives. The results indicate that 74 bridges exhibit higher vulnerability in emergency response and firefighting operations under a crisis scenario and therefore require careful planning for structural retrofitting and the provision of alternative corridors. Such measures are essential to prevent delays in emergency response and to reduce human and economic losses caused by the spread of post-earthquake fires.