Not many cases, but there have been reports of damage of roller bearing in existing curved bridges due to external forces applied during normal operation and earthquakes. Now that a few studies have focused on load carrying behaviors of the roller bearings, then in this study, the design trend of bearing arrangements for the curved bridges and the actual uses in Kumamoto Prefecture were investigated. Analytical results of the roller bearings, subjected to increasing horizontal force in arbitrary direction, show that the acting direction of the horizontal force and the deformation behavior need to be evaluated precisely, especially after the rollers and shear keys are in contact condition.
