The prediction and simulation of natural hazard scenarios associated with wind loading are particularly difficult in consideration of the inherent complexity of the wind field, turbulence fluctuations and pressure distributions. Therefore, experimentation, either full-scale or in wind tunnel, is vital for the derivation of the dynamic loading. Despite the efforts of the research community towards the development of refined techniques, predictions can, on occasion, differ from the recorded values of equivalent force or response characteristics. These discrepancies are associated with the experimental nature of this discipline. This observation calls for a more comprehensive treatment of uncertainty through probability-based methods in all wind engineering applications. Long-span cable-supported bridges are the backbone of the infrastructural system in the United States, located along the primary highway network system and connecting vital joints across the Nation. The research project will propose and develop an innovative approach for deriving the solution to the buffeting problem on long-span bridges, which will involve the direct representation of the sources of uncertainty through statistical descriptors, concentrated in both the aerodynamic input and selected structural parameters. Comparisons will be pursued from data and information available to the Principal Investigator. Wind-tunnel experiments will be used to confirm the relevance of the uncertain definition of aerodynamic and aeroelastic force terms. It is worth emphasizing that, whereas the collapse due to flutter can be re-interpreted from a probabilistic point of view as a reliability problem (i.e., a condition that needs to be avoided statistically), buffeting cannot be exclusively associated with a unique safety index but is related to both failure and serviceability conditions
