Approaches for the Seismic Retrofit of Braced Steel Bridge Piers and Proof-of-Concept Testing of an Eccentrically Braced Frame with Tubular Link

J.W. Berman and M. Bruneau

MCEER-05-0004 | 04/21/2005 | 168 pages

Keywords: Retrofitting.  Braced steel bridge piers.  Proof-of-concept testing.  Eccentrically braced frames.  Tubular links.  Construction.  Seismic design.  Vulnerability.  Recommendations.  Hybrid links.  Hybrid hollow rectangluar cross-sections.

Abstract: Many steel truss bridges in the United States and throughout the world were constructed at a time when seismic design was not well understood.  Several of these bridges are now considered seismically vulnerable.  This technical report describes, categorizes and uses selected qualitative measures to rate various retrofit strategies for steel truss bridge piers.  Recommendations are given for further research on both hybrid rectangular links for eccentrically braced frames and selected other retrofit strategies for the braced steel piers of truss bridges.  Lists of figures and tables are included, along with references.