Despite the fact that the occurrence of large earthquakes in Australia is rare, the consequences can be fatal and costly. The performance of bridges during and after earthquake events is critical in ensuring that road networks remain operational and importantly provide access for emergency services. The project investigated current Australian and international seismic design practices and formulates new force-based and displacement-based code provisions for the design of bridges to earthquake loads suitable for inclusion in current Australian design codes.
The key outcomes of this report not only ensure national consistency in bridge design for earthquakes in Australia but also provide bridge design practitioners with extensive background information and an alternative design methodology in line with world best practice.