STATISTICAL STUDY ON DAMAGE TO HIGHWAY BRIDGES DUE TO THE 2011 OFF THE PACIFIC COAST OF TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE

Abstract

 In the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake, strong ground motions and tsunami caused damage to a large number of highway bridges in broad area. The existing study showed that the longer bridges or continuous girder type of bridges tend to have larger damage ratio. In this study, damage to highway bridges is statistically studied focusing on difference in damage-ratio and degree due to design codes, plane shapes, etc. The result statistically showed that the bridges designed in accordance with the post-1990 design codes tend to have less damage and that damage to the bridges designed in accordance with pre-1980 design codes has been reduced by seismic retrofit.