For many years deck-truss bridges were designed without consideration of seismic loads. Seismic evaluations conducted for a number of existing bridges confirm their vulnerability, indicating that they may suffer severe damage in the event of a large earthquake. The proposed retrofit solution consists of introducing ductile devices as "structural fuses" to protect both the superstructure and substructure of these bridges. Ductile panels having such fuses are designed to replace the end and lower-end panels of deck-truss bridges. This paper describes the sources of seismic vulnerability, the proposed retrofit solution and design methodology, and summarizes the improvements achieved in seismic behavior for an example deck-truss bridge retrofitted as proposed.
展开▼
