4. Risk in civil engineering

In the case of buildings, risk is a major aspect of the notion of robustness. Risk and uncertainty are probably the most important issues a government needs to understand in order to make rational decisions. Risk is an action, or the nature of a condition or action, such as an earthquake, fire or terrorist attack, which can cause considerable damage.

Public acceptance of the notion of risk in buildings is low. Many researchers have worked on models, but when it comes to vandalism and malicious attacks, the results obtained have not been directly usable. It should be noted that French and European standards do not cover fires caused, for example, by trucks on or under bridges, or in tunnels. And yet, every year in France, fire-related incidents are comparable in number to impacts on bridge piers.