Assessment of Seismic Vulnerability of Segmental Bridges with Tall Piers by Static Non-linear Analysis

Abstract

Prestressed concrete segmental bridges, constructed by cantilevering with medium to large span lengths during the 1950s to 1970s and still in service, are now reaching the end of their nominal service life and were designed according to outdated Technical Codes. Therefore, the seismic assessment of these bridges must take into account the roles of piers, bearings, and drop-in spans, which are susceptible to beam pounding. The paper focuses on the seismic vulnerability assessment of bridges with a first approach through using response spectrum analysis; afterwards, the efficiency of various non-linear static analysis procedures is compared with the results from non-linear response history analysis, demonstrating that bearings play a crucial role in evaluating seismic vulnerability to longitudinal motion, especially for the segmental framed scheme with drop-in spans.