EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF LIQUEFACTION COUNTERMEASURES FOR BRIDGE ABUTMENT PILE FOUNDATIONS WITH HIGH PARAPET WALL

Abstract

 For the bridge abutment pile foundations with high parapet walls, when the surround ground lost resistance during earthquake due to the ground liquefaction, the bridge abutment foundations may suffer damage due to the large earth pressure and inertial force acting on the high parapet wall. In this study, the seismic retrofit effect of three liquefaction countermeasures for the bridge abutment pile foundations constructed on the thin liquefaction layer with high parapet wall was investigated using the dynamic centrifuge model experiments. For the liquefaction countermeasure with the steel pile wall constructed at the front side of the bridge abutment, the restraint effect of the displacement and rotation of the bridge abutment was limited. The maximum response of the bending moment and the earth pressure acting on the existing piles during dynamic testing was almost the same with that of the unretrofitted case. For the liquefaction countermeasure with the battered steel pile constructed at the two sides of bridge abutment, due to the ground flow-induced force increased by large acting area and the deformation mode of battered steel pile, the restraint effect of the bridge abutment rotation and its displacement was limited. However, for the liquefaction countermeasure with the steel pile wall constructed at the two sides of bridge abutment, due to the horizontal rigidity of abutment foundation increased by the steel pile wall, the restraint effect of the displacement and rotation of the bridge abutment was largely restricted.