Blast testing on quarter-scale prototypes has recently been successfully carried out following earlier work to demonstrate seismic protection.

Bruneau's pier design uses corrosion-resistant steel tubes filled with concrete, but without reinforcing bars. The steel and concrete form a composite structure, giving the piers superior strength and ductility, enabling them to bend when subjected to significant blast and seismic forces. The design also includes provision for resisting flexural forces developing at the base of the bridge piers.

Bruneau will present his research in May at the American Society of Civil Engineers' structures congress in St Louis.