Seismic Performance Assessment of Existing Bridge (Cross-Sectional Behavior)

The present study only focuses on the performance evaluation of the pier and its foundation. All other bridge components have been assumed to be safe throughout the analysis. The analysis results of the study show that the pier section has insufficient shear strength to resist earthquake forces. It shows unwanted brittle failure mechanism of the bridge. Therefore, the performance of most of the exiting bridges (designed prior to introduction of capacity design philosophy for bridge design) under seismic excitation is questionable. Piers of the existing bridge has been retrofitted with steel plates to make it strong in shear. The performance of the retrofitted structure has been assessed by performing non-linear time history analysis. Further, analysis results of the retrofitted bridge conclude that bridge piers are safe for shear and bending action due to earthquakes. Hence, it is essential to evaluate the performance of all existing conventional bridges and retrofit it by any suitable method.