Abstract
Seismic Design Methodology for typical highway bridges with reinforced concrete piers is developed. This methodology presented herein is based on a cost/benefit formulation for a rational choice of the two important parameters in seismic design requirements of typical highway bridges; the seismic design coefficient and the displacement ductility factor. Procedures require to quantify the hazard of earthquake shaking, the likelihood of bridge damage, the relationship between damage level and post earthquake performance of bridges, and the cost for increasing the required earthquake resistance of bridges. These quantities are quantified by utilizing the experimental and analytical results of damage degree for reinforced concrete piers, the experiences on post earthquake performance of bridges, and the statistics of damage cost collected on highway bridges during the past earthquakes. As an illustrative application, the methodology is applied to the choice of design requirements for typical highway bridges in Tokyo, and the values for the seismic design coefficient and the importance factor in the conventional design code are discussed.
