Evaluation of Seismic Performance and Proposing the Reinforcement Methods for the Bridge with Rocking Piers Penetrating the Railway Platform

Abstract

<p>Among the notable damage to the expressway in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake is the collapse of bridges with rocking piers. If the hinges of the rocking piers are damaged by an unexpected earthquake, the entire bridge system may collapse because bridges with rocking piers don’t have structural redundancy. In this paper, a bridge with a unique rocking pier penetrating a railway platform is focused on. We evaluated the seismic performance of the bridge, verified the collapse process, and proposed seismic reinforcement methods. Based on the results, it was confirmed that the displacements of the rocking pier exceeded the allowable values for an extreme earthquake. We proposed a measure to suppress the displacements and building a new pier to support the superstructure so that the collapse of the rocking pier would not lead to a bridge collapse.</p>