Investigation of Performance of Bridge Abutments in Seismic Regions

Abstract

Bridge abutments designed using the conventional strength‐based approach have performed satisfactorily when located above the water table. Only some of the assumptions used in the conventional approach are indeed conservative. This paper attempts to quantify the extent of the influence of various assumptions on permanent abutment displacement. Abutment displacements were computed by modifying an existing rigid‐plastic model to take into account the increase in residual lateral thrust caused by cyclic loading. A database of displacements for typical short and tall abutments designed using the conventional approach was generated from 22 recorded excitation histories obtained in earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.5 to 7.0. The study shows that the abutments designed according to the conventional approach will not undergo large displacements in moderate to large earthquakes.