Strengthening Of Bridges Against Seismic Loads

Abstract

This paper focuses on the seismic retrofitting of conventional or “ordinary” Highway bridges. The seismic retrofitting includes methods of evaluating bridges for seismic and seismic retrofitting strategies. The retrofitting technique is intended to be applicable for all levels of seismic hazards for conventional concrete super and substructures particularly concrete girder type highway bridges with span less than 150 meters and design life limited to 75 years. Also this paper does not focus on nor prescribe specific requirements when bridges are to be retrofitted. Several Engineering techniques for seismic retrofitting for super and substructures are available. The decision to retrofit a bridge depends upon a number of factors such as availability of funding, and number of political, social and economic issues. This paper focuses on the engineering factors pertaining to the seismic retrofit of highway bridges.