1995 Volume 9 Issue 3 Pages 202-214
As you know we had the great Hanshin Earthquake at early morning on Jan.17, 1995, so beautiful Kobe city was almost crumbled. This report is made on basis of a field investigation on almost all bridge structures located in the related area. By the inspection of damaged or collapsed bridges it is clear that a large number were designed more than 20 years ago, and also these structures had not retrofitted to increase their resistant capacity against large earthquakes. Finally, this earthquake showed more than ever, the effect of vertical acceleration like a shock on the failure mechanism of collapsed structures.
