Life cycle and performance based seismic design of major bridges in China

Abstract

The idea of life cycle and performance based seismic design of major bridges is introduced. Based on the key components and non-key components of a bridge and the consideration of the inspectability, replaceability, reparability, controllability and retrofitability of the bridge components, different seismic design levels and expected performance objectives are suggested for the major bridges in China. The vulnerability analysis and progressive collapse analysis, as well as risk assessment, are also proposed to be the important issues to study in order to guide the seismic design of major bridges in the future.